The 101st Maryland State Women’s Amateur Championship was held at Rolling Road Golf Club in Catonsville, Maryland on July 18-21, 2022. Rolling Road Golf Club hosted the Men’s State Amateur in 2021 and is home to four-time Women’s Amateur Champion, Joan Winchester. The course was spectacular, especially after having some very strategic renovations over the last year. The players thoroughly enjoyed the changes made, along with the great course conditions.
The four-day tournament started with a stroke play round on Monday to determine which sixteen players would compete in the Championship flight. Clare Connolly, the 2017 Women’s State Amateur Champion, was our medalist, carding an impressive round of 71 on the par 70, near 5800-yard course.
The field was divided into five flights to compete in match play over the next three days. The Medalist winner, Clare Connolly, was crowned the 101st Maryland State Women’s Amateur Champion, defeating Faith McIlvain in the final, 4 and 2. Clare is also the 2016 Mixed Two-Ball Champion as well as the 2001 Junior Girls Champion, and now a two-time Women’s State Amateur Champion.
Many thanks are extended to everyone who participated, and congratulations to all! Special thanks to the members and the staff of Rolling Road Golf Club who were magnificent hosts!
Highlights of the final matches are as follows:
Championship Flight: Clare Connolly over Faith McIlvain, 4 & 2
Both players in the Championship flight started out strong with Clare sinking a birdie putt on #1, then Faith doing the same on holes 2 & 3. Clare then won the next three holes with a birdie on #5, putting her at 2-up after #6. Faith then came back with a par on #7, but Clare’s par on #8 put her at 2-up. After tying the 9th hole, and with Clare being 2-up, the players made the turn to the 10th hole, par 3.
On #10, Clare missed the green but made an impressive chip right next to the hole for a par. Faith had a very long putt that turned into an unfortunate 3-putt, giving Clare the hole and a 3-up lead. Both players tied the next three holes with Clare winning #14 with a par. With the match being dormie going into #15, Faith needed to win the par 3 to stay in the match. Both players landed on the green. Faith’s put just missed the hole, which gave her a par. Clare’s putt ended up inches from the hole, also giving her a par and securing the win.
Kimbra Benson
First Flight: Kimbra Benson over Julia Hua, 1-Up
The first flight match was a back-and-forth affair all day. Julia won the first hole with a birdie. After tying the 2nd hole, Kimbra won #3 with a par followed by Julia winning #4 with a par. Kimbra then made a birdie on #5 with Julia have a fried egg in the green side bunker. Julia proceeded to win holes #6 and #7 with pars and made the turn 2-up.
The back was even more up and down as the players halved only 4 holes on the final 9. Kimbra won holes #10, #12, and #13, while Julia won #16. The match was now even going into the 18th hole. On #18 both players drives were in great shape. Julia then put hit her approach over the green while Kimbra had a 25-foot putt for birdie. Krimbra made a two putt for par while Julia was not able to get it up down from a difficult spot over the green.
Grace Oristian
Second Flight: Grace Oristian over Maria Knoche, 4 & 2
The 2nd flight match between Grace Oristian and Maria Knoche was decided by consistent tee to green play by Grace along with Maria’s struggles on the greens. Grace jumped out to an early 2-up lead with pars on the first two holes, but Maria evened the match with wins on the 3rd and 4th holes. Grace then won the next three holes to take a 3-up lead that she would never relinquish. Maria won the 8th hole when Grace struggled to get to the green and the match crossed over with Grace holding a 2-up lead.
A two-putt par from Grace won the 10th hole. Both players then birdied par-5 #11 with short putts. Grace won the 12th hole with a par. Maria then won the 13th hole with a solid par and the match went to #14 with Grace 3-up. Maria had an opportunity to win both #14 and #15 but was unable to get 5-foot putts to fall on both holes. On #16, Maria’s drive found tree trouble and she was not able to recover as Grace made a solid par to close out the match to win 4 & 2.
Bonnie Fry
Third Flight: Bonnie Fry over Donna Woodruff, 1-Up
The 3rd flight match between Bonnie Fry and Donna Woodruff was decided by who made putts and who was able to chip up close to the hole for a win or a halve. Donna one-putted holes 3 and 5 for pars to add to her par on #1 for a 3-up lead after 5. While Bonnie won #8, Donna was able to tie holes 7 and 9 with fantastic one-putts to win the front 2-up.
Bonnie won holes 11 and 12 with pars, but Donna won the 15th to be one up in the match. On #16 both players struggled getting to the green, but Bonnie prevailed. On the par 3 17th, Bonnie made a great chip to secure a half with a one-putt. The crux of the match came down to #18. Being barely on the green in 2, and the flagstick in the back, Bonnie played a beautiful putt ending inches away from the hole for par. Donna was unable to sink her one-putt to tie, giving Bonnie a 1-up victory.
Hosang Yi
Fourth Flight: Hosang Yi over April Alexander-Giles, 3 & 2
The 4th flight match began very evenly with every hole being tied until April won #7 with a bogey. But it looked the tying streak was going to start up again when both players shot the same score on #8 & #9. The match went on to the back nine with April having a very narrow lead of 1-up.
The match continued to be close on the back as the players tied holes 10, 11, and 12. But then Hosang came on strong to win the following four holes to close out the match on #16.
