ChAmpionShipS mediA GUide - USGA
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ChAmpionShipS mediA GUide - USGA ChAmpionShipS mediA GUide - USGA

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Women’s State Team 4 USGA Women’s State Team The Teams All states and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico may enter teams of three players. Entries are open to female amateur golfers whose permanent residence is in the state they represent and who have been nominated by the USGAdesignated state or regional golf association. College golfers are not eligible under NCAA rules. Format 54 holes of stroke play; 18 holes played on each of three days. 2013 Conditions of Play Scoring In each round, the total of the two lowest scores by players on each team constitutes the team score for the round. The threeday total is the team’s score for the championship. Schedule of Play Tuesday, Sept. 17 — First round (18 holes) Wednesday, Sept. 18 — Second round (18 holes) Thursday, Sept. 19 — Third round (18 holes)

Georgia, behind the stellar performance of 14-year-old Rachel Dai, of Suwanee, rallied from as much as a five-stroke deficit in the final round to register a two-stroke victory over Texas and Tennessee, and successfully defend its USGA Women’s State Team Championship on the 6,067-yard, par-72 Palmetto Course at The Landings Club in Savannah, Ga. Dai, along with veteran Laura Coble, of Augusta, and 17-yearold Amira Alexander, of Alpharetta, posted a 54-hole total of 16-over-par 448 in the 3-count-2 team format. Georgia, the only team to have won multiple Women’s State Team titles – it also won in 2005 – joined the Texas men as the only states to have claimed three State Team championships since the biennial competitions began in 1995. Dai shot an even-par 72 in a final round that included four birdies over the last nine holes to secure individual medalist honors at 2-under 214, edging Tennessee’s Calle Nielson by one stroke. Coble added a 5-over 77, while Alexander’s 79, her best round of the championship, was not counted. Texas and Tennessee shared second at 18-over 450, but Texas earned the silver medal based on a better score from its third golfer; Robin Burke (84) edged Maggie Scott (87) by three strokes. Maryland, the 18- and 36-hole leader, wound up fourth at 451, followed by Mississippi (456), Florida (458) and New Jersey (458), which had its best showing ever at the Women’s State Team. Georgia also joined the Minnesota men and women, and the Texas men as the only teams to win State Team titles on home soil. “It’s just unbelievable,” said the 47-year-old Coble. “It’s just hard to describe. The Landings has been so wonderful to us. [Georgia] is my home and where I’ve grown up, and they’ve been wonderful to us.” Added Dai, who made an exquisite up-and-down par from a greenside bunker at No. 18 to help clinch the title: “The fact that it was at home was the biggest thing. It was so awesome when I found out [the championship] was in Savannah. I have been here before and I’ve always enjoyed coming back here. It was so amazing.” So was her play, especially over the final nine holes. It began with a 15-yard chip-in birdie from above a greenside bunker at No. 11. She followed with birdies at 13, 15 and 16. Georgia’s victory came after a wild and windy day that saw four different teams hold the lead during the final round. Maryland was the first to falter as 17-year-old Elyse Smidinger struggled to find her form from the first two days. After rounds Georgia Wins the 2011 Championship of 68-72, the first of which included nine birdies (eight in a row), the Crofton resident could muster only a 79. With Andrea Kraus’ 76, Maryland shot 155 for the day, three behind Georgia. Texas made the first move of the round. The team held a fivestroke lead after nine holes before struggling down the stretch. Mina Hardin birdied four of her first six holes before hitting her drive out of bounds at the par-5 seventh, leading to a doublebogey 7. “That was totally unexpected,” said the 2010 USGA Senior Women’s Amateur champion and 2011 runner-up from Fort Worth. “I rushed my shot. I came over it and [my ball] hit the cart path. But stuff happens.” That double bogey proved to be a bad omen for Texas. Hardin wound up shooting a team-best 73, while Anna Schultz, of Rockwall, the 2007 USGA Senior Women’s Amateur champion, carded an 80 after opening the event with rounds of 72-75. Texas still had a chance at the end, but Hardin made a disappointing bogey at 18 and Schultz bogeyed No. 17 to give Texas its second runner-up finish at this championship. As Texas faltered, Tennessee moved into the lead by one stroke with just three holes left. Nielson, a recent University of Virginia graduate from Nashville who had just advanced out of a Stage II LPGA Tour Qualifying School tournament in Florida the week before, birdied the par-3 15th hole to get to one under for the round. But like Texas, Tennessee failed to close strong. Nielson bogeyed No. 17 and teammate Jennifer Lucas double-bogeyed the same hole to drop back into a share of second. Nielson finished with an even-par 72 and was one of only two players to finish in red figures (1-under 215). Lucas wound up with an 80. “I just couldn’t get any putts to fall,” said a mentally exhausted Nielson. “And the conditions were really tough. I played well. I’m coming off a lot of golf right now.” Georgia, playing ahead of the final three groups of Texas, Maryland and Tennessee, picked up the pieces at the end, although Coble wasn’t fully aware of the leader board fluidity. But her caddie, Dori Carter, a current LPGA Tour member who was on the winning Georgia side in 2009, mentioned that Texas was fading. Coble listened, but also knew she couldn’t worry about what was happening to the other teams. Later when someone mentioned that Georgia had won, Coble remained cautious until the USGA made the results official. That’s when the celebration got crazy. USGA Women’s State Team 5 “We did it all together,” said Coble. “There’s no one superstar. It’s very special.” Women’s State Team

Women’s<br />

State Team<br />

4 <strong>USGA</strong> Women’s State Team<br />

The Teams<br />

All states and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico may<br />

enter teams of three players. Entries are open to female amateur<br />

golfers whose permanent residence is in the state they<br />

represent and who have been nominated by the <strong>USGA</strong>designated<br />

state or regional golf association. College golfers<br />

are not eligible under NCAA rules.<br />

Format<br />

54 holes of stroke play; 18 holes played on each of three days.<br />

2013 Conditions of Play<br />

Scoring<br />

In each round, the total of the two lowest scores by players on<br />

each team constitutes the team score for the round. The threeday<br />

total is the team’s score for the championship.<br />

Schedule of Play<br />

Tuesday, Sept. 17 — First round (18 holes)<br />

Wednesday, Sept. 18 — Second round (18 holes)<br />

Thursday, Sept. 19 — Third round (18 holes)

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