The 17th Maryland State Women’s Open Championship was held October 20th and 21st at Baltimore Country Club in Timonium, Maryland. A total of 57 players completed the competition for the championship trophy. Within that field 30 amateurs were also in competition for the coveted Campbell Cup, which was donated to the MSGA-WD by Bob Morris from Congressional CC to honor the low amateur champion. The professional purse was $15,000, with a first place prize of $5,000.
It was a sunny but chilly day when the tournament began on Tuesday, however the temperatures steadily climbed to make it a beautiful autumn afternoon. It took some time for the players to get used to the fast but true rolling greens. Day two not only brought warmer weather, but more impressive scores with the lowest from Mesha Levister (p) of Chester, VA with a smooth 69. We also saw remarkable eagles on the par 5 hole #15 from Vivian Tsui (p) of Markham, ON, and on par 5 hole #11 from Megan Leineweber (p) of Christiansburg, VA.
Aneka Seumanutafa (a) of Clustered Spires Golf Club in Frederick, MD and Kaitlyn Rohrback (p) of Norman, OK battled for the championship, with Aneka being in the lead after day one by one stroke. Aneka had bogeys on holes #1 and 3, followed by a birdie on #4, then a bogey on #5. She finished strong with birdies on #10, 11, 15 and 18. Kaitlyn got off to a slow start and bogeyed the first three holes, but came back strong with birdies on #6, 8, 11 and 12.
Day two had Aneka leading by one going into hole #18 after making a long birdie putt on the par 3, hole #17. Kaitlyn sank a clutch birdie putt on #18 to finish three under for day two, tying Aneka for a total of four under, and a total score of 142 each.
Aneka and Kaitlyn then went to a sudden death playoff on hole #1. Both were on the long par 4 in two; however it was a slippery downhill putt for birdie that won Kaitlyn the overall championship, and her name engraved on the permanent silver trophy.
Rohrback’s score of 142 (72/70) secured the win in the Professional division, taking home $5,000 cash and the MSGA WD flag signed by all participants.
Ana Menendez (p) of The Woodlands, TX took second place honors in the Professional division with even par on the first day…she had a double bogey on hole #6, followed by a bogey on #7 and birdie on #9….she bogeyed #10 and came back strong with four straight birdies and a bogey on #18. Her second round ended one over with two bogeys and one birdie, finishing with a total of 147 (73/74).
Third place Professional was Mesha Levister who started her first round with a six over 79. She had a triple bogey on hole #2, but got her revenge on day two with an eagle on that hole. She improved her second round score by 10 strokes, shooting a 69, with her eagle on #2 and birdies on #5, 8, 9, 11 and 15. What a comeback!
Aneka Seumanutafa’s score of 142 (71/71) earned her the Low Amateur in the Championship, thus taking home the crystal Campbell Cup trophy and $400 in pro shop credit.
Second place amateur was Delaney Shah (a) of Argyle CC in North Potomac, MD who trailed the leader the first day by four strokes. She had one double bogey and four birdies in her opening round and shot even par in her second round, with a solid round of three birdies and three bogeys, finishing with a score of 148 (75/73).
-Reported by Rebecca Krimski from Baltimore Country Club
Aneka Seumanutafa – Frederick, MD
