GLEN COVE, N.Y. (August 9, 2014) — Two 16-year-olds will square off Sunday at the U.S. Women's Amateur final. It will be Canada versus the United States as Brooke Mackenzie Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ontario and Kristen Gillman of Austin, Texas have advanced to the final match.
Saturday's semifinal matches featured four woman aged 16 and under, including 15-year-old Andrea Lee of Hermosa Beach, Calif. Gillman was all-square with the future Stanford University golfer through eight holes, with Lee even going one-up after a win on the sixth. But a stretch of four consecutive bogeys for Lee put her four-down through twelve, with Gillman eventually closing out the match 4-and-3.
Gillman just last week captured an eleven-stroke victory at the Junior PGA Championship. She'll face Henderson in Sunday's final after the Canadian won a close one-up match over Arizona native Hannah O'Sullivan. Henderson trailed O'Sullivan by a hole through the first nine, slowly working her way back to go one-up through 14. The two halved the remaining four holes, giving Henderson the narrow victory.
Gillman, who will attend the University of Alabama in 2016, will get to play in next year's LPGA Tour Swinging Skirts event at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City, Calif because of her Junior Girls PGA victory.
Henderson, who hasn't committed to play collegiately yet, will be looking to become only the third Canadian to win the U.S. Women's Amateur.
The two teenagers will prepare for Sunday's 36-hole final, beginning at 8:30 am EST at Nassau Country Club.
ABOUT THE
U.S. Women's Amateur
The U.S. Women's Amateur, the third
oldest of
the USGA championships, was first played
in 1895
at Meadowbrook Club in Hempstead, N.Y.
The
event is open to any female amateur who
has a
USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 2.4.
The
Women's Amateur is one of 15 national
championships conducted annually by the
USGA.
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