Fox back on top on Beltway Tour

By TJ MAXWELL
Cove Leader-Press

KILLEEN - After taking a break from the local tour schedule to take a crack at national competition, Copperas Cove incoming freshman Elle Fox got back to her familiar place atop the leader board by winning the Beltway Junior Golf Tour Girls’ Diamond division event Wednesday at the Stone Tree Golf Course in Killeen.
Joining Fox atop the Stone Tree leader board were sophomore Madelyn Miller and Cove alum Caden McAnally.
Fox shot a four-over-par 76 to best closest competitor Georgetown senior Mackenzy Turner by seven strokes and Temple senior Alexis Jones by nine strokes to best the field of 15 competitors.
She kicked off the tournament with four-consecutive pars on holes 15-18 before suffering two of only six over-par holes for the tournament. She responded with four more pars in a row before her next bogeys on holes 7 and 8. 
Fox finished strong, however, with two pars and two birdies over the final six holes to secure the win.
Miller finished in fifth place in the Girls’ Diamond division with a round of 89, three strokes behind Salado senior Jamie Rich (86).
Miller suffered a triple bogey on the first hole of the tournament that could have deflated her game but she rallied to par three of the next six holes to put her in contention for the top five. 
The top five finish in her fourth event propelled Miller up five spots in the Beltway Junior Golf Tour rankings to 18th place with a scoring average of 88.50. Conroe senior Raelynn Hardgrave leads the rankings with a 79.17 average.
Recent graduate Caden McAnally also put up a top six finish in the Boys’ Gold division with a round of 79 and fellow graduate Dustin Dean finished five-strokes back at 84 for an eighth-place tie.
McAnally was all over the map on holes 1-5 with a par, a birdie, two bogeys and a double bogey but then found his groove with nine pars in the next 13 holes to finish with a 79.
The top six finish in his fourth tour event propelled McAnally up seven spots in the rankings. He now sits at sixth in the rankings with a 76.00 scoring average. Lorena’s Preston McGinty leads the way with a 71.29 average through seven events.
Dean had a disastrous four-over on his second hole on the 404-yard par-four hole one but quickly righted the ship with six pars over the next eight holes. After a few more tough holes, Dean finished strong with three pars and a birdie in the final five holes.
Dean moved up 11 spots in the ranks to 35th with a scoring average of 83.67 in his third event.