The 96th Maryland State Women’s Amateur Championship was held at Hillendale Country Club on July 18-21, 2017. There were forty-two participants from all areas of the state, including defending champion Bryana Nguyen of Hobbits Glen Golf Club.
The first day, which was the stroke play Championship qualifying round, produced two Medalist winners. Both Connie Isler of TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm and Sophie Simon of Woodmont Country Club shot a three under par 70.
The results of the final matches from the six flights are as follows:
Championship Flight – Clare Connolly and Delaney Shah
The final match of the Championship flight featured Clare Connolly of Chevy Chase Club and Delaney Shah, formerly of Argyle Country Club, and currently a student and member of the girl’s golf team at University of Louisville. Both players were previous participants in the MSGA-WD Girl’s Junior Golf program, and are well known for their top-notch playing ability. The girls began the round with a par on #1, but Clare’s birdie on the #2 long par 4 put her in a ‘1-up’ position that Delaney would find difficult to overcome. Both girls were neck and neck, with Clare holding on to her one-hole lead until Delaney bogeyed the number-one rated hole #5. Delaney bounced back with a smooth birdie on #7 – a tough par 3 with a treacherous green. But Clare answered her birdie with one of her own on #8. Clare gained momentum and was able to win holes #11 and #12, which put her at 4-up. Delaney rallied with a birdie on #14, but couldn’t quite get a leg up on Clare who was tracking to shoot even par on the back nine. The match was over with Clare’s par on #15, which cinched it for her win at 4 & 3.
First Flight – Bryana Nguyen and Josephine Jung
In the First Flight, former MSGA-WD junior golfers, collegians, Bryana Nguyen (entering senior year at UNC) and Josephine Jung (rising sophomore at Towson University) had a nip-and tuck match which went all the way to the 19th hole. The girls were tied at one over par on the same holes until the par 3 7th when Josephine hit the green and Bryana failed to get the ball up and down. From there it continued with Josephine 1-up through the 13th hole until Bryana parred #14 to Josephine’s bogey. Until this time, Josephine had five one putt greens to Bryana’s three. Immediately after the match was all-square, Josephine won the par 3 #15 after Bryana 3- putted. Going into 18, with Josephine 1-up, Bryana hit the par 5 in regulation about 8 feet from the hole, while Josephine’s 3rd shot found the right-hand greenside bunker. Josephine hit a beautiful sand shot which Bryana conceded for Josephine’s five. Bryana, however, drained her putt and the match went back to #1. Both girls were on the par 5 in three shots with Josephine away. She sunk her 12-15-foot putt for birdie, and Bryana missed her downhill putt of about 8 feet. Both girls shot 76 on the 18 (+3); it was a match for the history books as Josephine had 28 putts to Bryana’s 33. What was that saying about ‘putt for dough?’
Second Flight – Julia Calomiris and Micaa Thomas
The 2nd flight match between current MSGA-WD Junior Girls Program participant, Julia Calomiris of Congressional Country Club and Micaa Thomas, an MSGA-WD Junior Girls Program alum and current student and member of the golf team at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), who have nearly identical handicap indexes, promised to be a close one, and so it was. Micaa took the first hole with a conceded birdie putt; however, by hole #4 Julia brought the match to all square. This pattern remained throughout, with Micaa going 1-up and Julia bringing it back to all square, which was the status of the match through nine. Micaa birdied #10, perhaps the players’ least favorite hole on the course due to the elevation increase and severe slope from right to left. Micaa then took the par 3 #11 to put her 2-up. With Julia’s consistent play the match was back to all square after #15 and #16. Micaa took the 17th, which put Julia in the position of needing to win the 18th hole to square the match and force a playoff. With a brilliant 35-foot putt, she did just that. After the 18th hole both players had scored 74’s. Play continued on hole #1, the first playoff hole, with Micaa making par, winning the hole and the match.
Third Flight – Deb Pearson and Samyra Lewis
The 3rd flight match was between Deb Pearson of Laytonsville Golf Club and Samyra Lewis, a senior at Delaware State and a member of Fairway Hills Golf Course. Deb started out strong on #1 by making a birdie. Both players tied the next three holes, but then Deb had another birdie on the 5th hole (par 5) going 2-up. She stayed strong, and at the end of nine holes was 3-up over Samyra. Deb managed to keep the pressure on by going 4-up on the 11th hole. Both players had a par on #12, but Deb again had a birdie on hole #13 (par 5), going 5-up with five to go. The match ended on #14 with two bogies for a win for Deb at 5 & 4. Deb played a strong match with five pars and three birdies in 14 holes, shooting a 38 on the front nine. Samyra also played well with 6 pars and a 41 on the front nine. It is worth mentioning that this was Samyra’s first match play tournament. As she continues her golf journey, we anticipate that she will be a strong competitor.
Fourth Flight – Marlies Empey and Diane Herndon
The match between Marlies Empey of Eisenhower Golf Club and Diane Herndon of Argyle Country Club began with a very solid showing by Marlies – winning three of the first four holes. Not one to stay down though, Diane met the challenge by tying the next few holes and winning the 9th, leaving Marlies with a 2-up lead. On the back nine, Diane began by winning the very difficult #10 hole, tying the next two holes, then winning #13 & #14, which put her at 1-up over Marlies. On the par 3, 15th hole, Marlies sank a 20-foot birdie putt that gave her a chance to even up the match. Not to be outdone, Diane answered with her own birdie putt. The match proceeded with both players tying each hole, and Diane protecting her lead through the 18th hole to win the match at 1-up.
Fifth Flight – Cathy Ayoob and Lorraine Dommel
The fifth flight match was contested by Cathy Ayoob and Lorraine Dommel, both of Laytonsville Golf Club. The first hole proved to be a bit of a challenge for Lorraine, which gave Cathy a quick lead. However, both players tied the next two holes. The fourth hole was also not kind to Lorraine who double-bogeyed against Cathy’s par, leaving Cathy at 2-up after four holes. Cathy won the next hole, tied #7 and #8, then won #9 to finish the front at 4-Up. Lorraine tried to come back on #10 with a par, but Cathy also parred and finished out the match with bogey, par, birdie to win 6 & 5.
Winners & Finalists
Championship Winner – Clare Connolly
Championship Runner-Up – Delaney Shah
First Flight Winner – Josephine Jung
First Flight Runner-Up – Bryana Nguyen
Second Flight Winner – Micaa Thomas
Second Flight Runner-Up – Julia Calomiris
Third Flight Winner – Deb Pearson
Third Flight Runner-Up – Samyra Lewis
Fourth Flight Winner – Diane Herndon
Fourth Flight Runner-Up – Marlies Empey
Fifth Flight Winner – Cathy Ayoob
Fifth Flight Runner-Up – Lorraine Dommel
Championship Semi-Finalist – Arisa Kimura
Championship Semi-Finalist – Stephanie Herndon
Co-Medalist – Connie Isler
Co-Medalist – Sophie Simon
Thank you to everyone who participated, and congratulations to all!
The 97th Maryland State Women’s Amateur Championship will be held at Worthington Manor Golf Club in Urbana, Maryland, July 16th–19th, 2017.
