Kerr Goes to Head of Her Class : Golf: Miami resident is leading qualifier at USGA Girls’ Junior. O.C’s Booth moves up to second.

Three years ago, Cristie Kerr got her introduction to competitive golf in the USGA Girls’ Junior Championship.

Kerr, then 12, was unaware of the tournament’s significance.

“I didn’t know how big it was then, but I certainly know how big it is now,” Kerr said, after shooting three-under-par 69 Tuesday at the Girls’ Junior at Mesa Verde Country Club. “I have few goals but winning this tournament is definitely one of them.”

Kerr, of Miami, put herself in a strong position by posting a two-day total of 141 to win medalist honors by five shots.

Kerr, who had four birdies and a bogey, is the top-seeded golfer in the 64-player field for match play that starts at 7:30 this morning. First-round winners will advance to afternoon matches.

Kerr’s round eclipsed one by Kellee Booth of Coto de Caza, who rallied from a 76 Monday to shoot a bogey-free 70, giving her a 146 total, the second best score.

Three players--Heather Graff of Kennewick, Wash., Lisa Penske of Bethlehem, Pa., and Shauna Estes of Orangeburg, S.C., were a shot back at 147.

Defending champion Fumi Jamie Koizumi of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, shot 80 to give her 154. Alicia Allison of Santa Ana, runner-up to Koizumi last year, shot 77 and stands at 156.

Two other golfers from Orange County qualified. Jenny Glasgow of Corona del Mar and Candida Kim of Coto de Caza are in the middle of the pack at 159.

It was the first time this year Booth has been outshot in a stroke-play event that lasted more than 18 holes, but it felt just fine.

“I wanted to shoot a really low number,” Booth said. “I wanted to qualify a lot higher than where I was standing after yesterday.”

Booth, who has won six of the seven junior tournaments she has entered this year, had been in an unfamiliar position--tied for 12th--after her first round, but she came out aggressively to try to change things.

She set the tone with a birdie on the first hole, a 441-yard, par-5, making a five-foot putt after chipping past the hole.

Because of her aggressive play, particularly on long putts, she was left with a lot of four- to six-footers to save par. She never missed.

Tom Sargent, the head professional at Yorba Linda Country Club who teaches Booth, was among the gallery of about 40.

“Right now, I think she’s trying to hole it off the tee,” Sargent said.

Booth was in trouble several times, but she was able to extricate herself nicely. Her only other birdie came after finding the trees with her drive on the 504-yard, par-5 11th.

Booth hit her second shot through an opening into the middle of the fairway and then from 130 yards she hit a nine-iron to within 15 feet and rolled in the putt.

Allison said she has been struggling with her putting all summer, and Tuesday was no exception.

Her 77 was two strokes better than her score Monday, but she had chances for five or six birdies and made only one. She said she missed several putts from two to three feet.

“I just have to get comfortable with my putting stroke,” Allison said.

“I had one shot that was really sweet. On No. 8, I was in a bunker 185 yards away and I put it three feet from the hole.

“Don’t ask about the putt though.”

Well, how about the putt?

“I was a dork and played a break. It didn’t break and I just drilled it by.”