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UULf$$ISL{ S -̂*̂ 2 .0/05 f• ) 3> pAyV <^ ^ uttina for douah ^Kristen MacLaren sets sights on scholarship Bv Paul Svoboda The Intelligencer There's an old saying in golf: You drive for show and putt for dough. With that in mind, Belleville's Kristen MacLaren is paying par- ticular attention to her short game in order that it may pay off in the long run. As in, landing her a golf scholarship to a U.S. Divi- sion I college. MacLaren, 18, has sent intro- ductory letters to 40 American universities and with one year of high school remaining at Centen- nial, she's received replies "from about half of them. "They can't really say anything because I have a year left," she explains. "They'll wait until next year." When the recruitment begins in earnest, MacLaren is hoping to )land in Arkansas, home of the ' perennialy top-ranked NCAA women's golf program. She also likes Alabama. For now, MacLaren will con- centrate on honing her skills at the Bay of Quinte Country Club (she practices for about five hours ntelligencer photo by Ady Vos Kristen MacLaren lines up a putt during Rick Meagher 3-M charity tournament. a day and then plays a round at night) and winning tournaments. So far, the practice has paid off. Last year, MacLaren was the runaway winner of the Wilson-St. Lawrence junior girls tour, earn- ing first place honors in seven consecutive events. This year, she entered two of the first three tour events, winning both. At the tour opener at Amherstview, MacLaren shot a career low gross 73. She shot a 78 to win the most recent Wilson-St. Lawrence stop- over at Ri vend ale near Kingston and she'll be gunning for the hat trick in Napanee on Friday. Fu- ture tour events are planned for Garrison on July 28, Bay of Quinte on Aug. 3, Colonade on Aug. 10 and the tour wrap-up at Cataraqui on Aug. 14. MacLaren will set her sights higher at the 69th annual provin- cial junior ladies championships later this month in Seaforth and the Canadian junior girls champi- onships next month in Quebec. She'll also gun for the Bay of Quinte club championships in Au- gust and September. MacLaren has been playing golf for four years. She was intro- duced to the game by her grand- parents. "They bought me and my brother Chris our first member- ships," she says. "My brother started way before me and I went out with him once." From there, MacLaren's talent took over. She says her long game is her strongest asset. "My irons and my driver," she says. "I've hit about 230 yards off the tee." When it comes to the crunch, MacLaren is no different from a lot of golfers. "It's always those little putts," she says. MacLaren hopes to use a U.S. scholarship as a springboard to a career in golf and a spot on the women's professional tour. With that as a goal, she's got a good teacher -- Peter Kuzmich, father of former local standout Heather Kuzmich, a provincial and Cana- dian women's champion who par- layed a golf scholarship to Georgia into a brief run on the women's tour. She's now working as a club pro in Georgia. "I'd like to play on the tour," says MacLaren. "He (Kuzmich) says it's possible if I keep work- ing." MacLaren, who also excels on the basketball court, was named the 1994-95 female athlete-of-the- year at Centennial.