Harford living a dream on LPGA Tour

SYLVANIA -- Haylee Harford is living the dream. Literally."I've had my eyes on playing on the LPGA Tour since I was a little girl, so it is kind of crazy to be out here playing with some ladies who I watched when I was growing up," Harford, a tour rookie, said Friday after completing the second round of the tour's Dana Open at Highland Meadows Golf Club.Area residents may remember Harford from her days of playing high school golf and winning the 2011 Division II individual state title while playing for Warren John F. Kennedy and again in 2014 while attending Leavittsburg LaBrae. In 2013, Lakota's Makayla Dull topped Harford and the rest of the field.In those days, Harford was better than most of the high school competition she faced. It's quite a bit different now. She missed the cut for the Dana Open after carding rounds of 3-over-par 74 on Thursday and 73 on Friday, making for seven missed cuts in 11 starts this season. But she's plugging away and moving forward as he looks toward next week's tour event in Cincinnati."It's definitely been a learning process," she said. "But I'm just really excited and blessed to be out here. I've worked my whole life to get to this point. To be a rookie on the LPGA is a dream come true, so I'm just taking it one tournament at a time. I've had my ups and my downs, but I just keep going about my process and taking it one shot at a time."That approach brought her a tie for 17th place last week in the CP Open in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada."It's tough because you definitely want to perform your best each week and sometimes you don't have your best," Harford said of the season's struggles. "Each week is different. I had a great finish last week. I know I belong out here and I know I'm capable of being just as good as the rest of them. I've got to keep working and stay confident in myself and my game."Harford started playing golf at age 5 and fell in love with the sport. She said still reminisces about progressing to winning two state titles in high school."I just remember being so excited and feeling like my game was in a really good spot," she said. "Ending up the way I did and then going off to college was really special."Harford continued to shine at Furman University and earned player of the year recognition in the Southern Conference as a senior.After two seasons on the Epson Tour, which is the LPGA's satellite league, she tied for 32nd in the LPGA Tour's qualifying school and received her tour card.She was pleased to return to Ohio this week, as her parents traveled across the state to watch her play. Her two older sisters will join their parents next week in Cincinnati, she said.She said she gained additional support from the fans at Highland Meadows just for being an Ohioan in an international field. "I had a couple of people yell, 'Go, Buckeyes,' or 'She's a Buckeye,'" Harford, who actually was a Palladin at Furman, said with a laugh.Harford said playing in last year's U.S. Open helped her get used to spending this year on tour with people she's admired for years.I" feel like that was a great experience for me just to be out there with everybody and to be practicing and playing," she said. "I played a practice round last year with Lexi and I definitely got a little bit of jitters there. But, like I said, I know I belong out here. I kind of feel more comfortable now. The atmosphere is definitely an adjustment, but it's been pretty good."Harford's well aware that too many more missed cuts would send her back to Q School, and while it's a concern, she can't let it dominate her thoughts."Not just rookies like me -- there are other girls I've been talking to and it's constantly something that you just kind of have to put in the back of your mind and just take it one week at a time because so much can happen," she said. "I mean, I could go next week and win. You don't know. I've just got to keep going and keep playing my game and keep working."