As Jenny Suh teed up her first shot in the second round of the 53rd annual Payton Memorial Invitational golf tournament at the Cavalier Golf and Yacht Club, her future stood beside her.
Paired with two college scholarship golfers, the 14-year-old from Fairfax's Chantilly High has aspirations of earning her own free education.
And if her performance Wednesday is any indication, the rising sophomore will have plenty of collegiate choices.
Suh started the second and final round five strokes behind Elon College's Angie Baskette of Norfolk and tied with Laura Orlen of South Hadley, Mass. - another Elon golfer.
Suh quickly closed the gap and blew by her considerably older competition, shooting 13-over par 151 for two rounds to win the girls division of the tournament by four strokes.
After only five holes, Suh had tied Baskette.
``Angie had a tough time today,'' said Suh, who finished tied for ninth in last year's Group AAA state high school tournament as a freshman. ``I knew five strokes would be difficult to make up, but the fact that she wasn't able to make her putts today really helped.''
Suh's biggest moment came on the par 14th, when she faced a 12-foot downhill putt for a birdie and her biggest lead.
``I dropped it and I felt then that I could win,'' Suh said. ``This was very good for my confidence. I don't get to compete against older girls of this caliber very often.''
Orlen finished in second, while Baskette - last year's runner-up - wound up in fifth.
In the overall boys portion of the tournament, rising collegiate freshmen Steven Jenkins of Chesterfield, Va., and Keith Orlen found themselves in a battle through the final 15 holes.
But down by a stroke heading into the par-3 18th, Orlen found himself in a bunker short and left of the pin. Jenkins had played safe, leaving his tee shot 40 feet from the hole.
``I just wanted to two-putt,'' said Jenkins, who is headed to Virginia Commonwealth on a golf scholarship. ``And things happen in golf.''
Orlen, headed to join his sister at Elon, sent his shot out of the sand trap high over the pin and into the Lynnhaven River to settle the matter.
The local contingency was saved by the younger players.
Chesapeake residents Katie Murphy, 10, and Jonathan Wilson, 12, won pee-wee (U12) titles. Murphy shot an 18-hole total of 99 with 48 Tuesday and 51 Wednesday. Wilson shot a 4-over par 73 with rounds of 36 and 37.
Mark Coradi of Chesapeake won in the juniors division with a 148. The 14-year-old edged Chad Fultz by a stroke with rounds of 76 and 72.
Reach Lee Tolliver at 222-5128
