After finishing the first day of the Mississippi Junior Amateur Championship golf tournament by three strokes, Karley Whittington is not feeling very good about her play in day two.

Whittington shot a 72 on day one and an 86 on day two, a 14 strokes difference.

“It wasn’t my day today,” Whittington said. “My confidence is down but hopefully it gets back up tomorrow morning. Hopefully I’ll do well.”

Most golf tournaments are two day events and don’t have a third day to bounce back. The junior amateur is three days because it is the best of the best in Mississippi.

Environmental factors affected Whittington’s play.

“The heat had a big thing to do with it, it’s very powerful in the middle of the day,” Whittington said. “I’m ready to play tomorrow to see the outcome. “

Whittington is going to come back for day three and hopes to have a good day like she had on the first.

Her score can be a bit misleading. Whittington said she shot the ball well but had too much power behind it. She was 11 over on the front nine making it was easy for her competition to catch her. Because she played well on the back nine, she was able to close the gap.

In order for Whittington to win the tournament she’s going to have to putt well and hit her iron shots well too.

Whittington is very competitive and wants to do well in every round of golf she plays.

“Winning is very important to me because I’m very competitive. If I lose, I know I can’t be at the top of every tournament, there’s always going to be someone better than me.

Channing Curtis also fell 15 spots in the rankings.

“I shot an 81 and dropped me down to 18th place.”

Curtis said he didn’t hit the ball well today and there aren’t too many positives to take away.

“I kept my calm all day and waited for a positive sign to help me today. Just one of those days I guess. One that will probably push me out of reach.”

Curtis hopes to play in the Warren County junior championship. If he finishes in the top two he’ll move on to the Warren County Championship.

Curtis said he’s going to try and keep the lost score he can and hit as many bogeys as he can and try to finish as high as he can. He wants to play aggressive to finish out the tournament.

“I played really well in my first round,” Curtis said. “I was hoping for a good week. Stuff just didn’t fall my way today.”