Nichols continues path to 2020 rematch

It’s hard to imagine Anna Kate Nichols wanting to remember much about last year’s Arkansas State Golf Association Junior Match Play final.

Not that the whole week was bad — Nichols didn’t need more than 15 holes in any of her first three knockout matches to set up a showdown with then-twotime defending champ Mackenzie Lee.

But Lee, who’s currently the No. 22 junior player in the nation, turned away Nichols with ease.

A little more than a year later, Nichols will again encounter an all-too-familiar foe in Lee after picking up a pair of victories in Thursday’s matches at Eagle Hill Golf & Athletic Club in Little Rock. Nichols, a sophomore at Pulaski Academy, held off Hot Springs Lakeside junior Maggie Huett 3 and 1 in a morning quarterfinal, then handled Mount St. Mary senior Isabel Chaidez 8 and 6 in an afternoon match that was twice delayed — first by torrential downpours and later by lightning.

As much as the 2020 result with Lee stuck with Nichols, it also showed where she stood.

“It didn’t bother me very much because I know how good of a player she is,” Nichols said of Lee, now a senior at North Little Rock. “My main goal [coming into the week] was just play well in all of my matches and make it back to that point and hopefully get another chance to play her.”

And while Nichols didn’t say as much, the loss seemed to provide her with a springboard.

In her freshman campaign, she finished second in the Class 4A state championship and won the Chenal Junior Invitational two weeks later.

“It’s fun. It’s not as much pressure because you do have teammates,” Nichols said of the high school season. “Those are a lot less stressful than these kinds of tournaments.”

There was some stress Thursday. After leading by 3 up at the turn in her quarterfinal against Huett, Nichols watched her lead dwindle to 1 up twice on the back nine. Yet her consistency kept the pressure on Huett, a trait she’s maintained during her summer campaign.

Since losing by 14 shots to Lee in the Monk Wade Junior Classic in early May, Nichols has won each of her past three ASGA events, including an impressive runaway performance 12 days ago in Cabot where she beat Chaidez by 16 strokes.

It’s not to say Nichols’ summer would be for naught if she winds up with a similar outcome today. Lee, an SMU commit, looked all the part of a player ready to win a fourth consecutive title — she made easy work of her Thursday opposition with a pair of 8-and-7 wins.

But Nichols concedes vindication is on her mind.

“Coming back this year, I want a little redemption,” she said. “Maybe, I’ll beat her.”