2-time champ holds lead

Two-time champion and 2008 runner-up Cindy Thompson fired a two-over 72 to secure the top spot on the leader board after Saturday’s opening round of the Reines Jewelers Ladies Championship at Meadow-creek Golf Course.

Thompson lost in a playoff last summer to Lauren Eklund after claiming the tournament title in 2005 and 2007 and admits that she used a different philosophy coming into this year’s event.

“I usually go out for a four- or five-mile run before I play golf because it settles my nerves,” said Thompson, “so the whole time I’m out running this morning, I’m thinking ‘smart but aggressive.’ This course is tight. You can get into a lot of trouble out there.

“I won in ’05 and ’07, so it’s ’09,” chuckled Thompson. “Maybe I’m an odd kind of girl, maybe odd is a good thing for me. I just want to play well.”

The Glenmore member got off to a nice start on Saturday morning, birdieing the first hole, but gave back a stroke on No. 3, which has been a personal nemesis for Thompson over the years. She made the turn at three-over after picking up a bogey on No. 5 and a double-bogey at No. 7.

“You can’t let it get you down,” said Thompson. “There’s a lot of golf out there, and the friends that I’m playing with, that’s exactly what they said, that it’s two days, and that there are a lot of holes left.”

Eklund, a member of the Albemarle High School golf team, had a tough time making a push to defend her title, finishing the day with a 79, seven strokes off the pace. At one point, Eklund’s ball got stuck in a tree, and she responded afterwards by saying that it was just one of those days.

A newcomer to the 37-woman field this year is St. Anne’s-Belfield graduate and soon-to-be freshman member of the UVa golf team, Elizabeth Brightwell, who carded a 73 on Saturday. The 18-year-old Nellysford resident and Stony Creek member is tied for second with Anne Scott of Greene Hills, who finished third in last year’s tournament.

Farmington’s Sarah Wilkinson is in fourth place after posting an opening round score of 74, followed by Alexa Boucher of Greene Hills, who shot a 75 and is alone in fifth going into today’s final round.

Brightwell, who also plays out of Farmington, birdied her first two holes of the day to jumpstart her round, but managed just one more birdie for her final 16. She explained that Meadowcreek offers a different challenge than her home courses in that the greens are harder and the layout is shorter.

“This course is playing pretty short for me, so birdies need to happen more frequently than they did today,” admitted Brightwell. “I hung in there, I had a few big numbers which is not good, but if I eliminated those, I’d be shooting much better than a 73.”

The big numbers Brightwell referred to included a pair of sevens — a triple-bogey on the par-four seventh and a double on No. 12. After competing in various VSGA amateur and American Junior Golf Association matches this summer, Brightwell said that it will require accuracy and exceptional putting in today’s final round for her to emerge as this year’s champ.

Thompson said that she would have to continue her aggressive play today if she plans to hold off her fellow competitors and win the title for the third time in five years. She admits that she slipped up down the stretch in last year’s final round, which cost her the championship, and hopes to avoid such a repeat performance today.

The action begins at 8 a.m., with this morning’s final group of Thompson, Scott, Brightwell and Wilkinson to tee off at 9:20 at Meadowcreek.