Hannah Bagnell of Xavier Prep overcame a late double bogey to fire an even-par 72 on Tuesday to take the lead in the Desert Empire League girls’ golf finals.
Bagnell, a freshman, took a six-shot lead over Joanna Crist of La Quinta, who won the DEL title last year as a freshman. Crist’s 78 included a triple bogey on the Palmer Course at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage.
Bagnell and Crist made the tournament basically a two-player race heading into Thursday’s final 18 holes at the Palmer Course. Liya Kakar of Palm Desert, the undefeated league champion of the DEL this year, was third at 87, followed by teammate Emily Tucker at 88, Palm Desert’s Hannah Woods at 90 and Palm Desert’s Bella Fuentez at 91.
The final round will begin at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, with the leaders going off sometime around 1:15 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Hannah Bagnell fires even-par 72 for early lead in DEL girls’ golf finals