Roanne Tomlinson (FSGA photo)

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Stroke Play Qualifying Rounds

The 2018 Women's Amateur saw some great rounds on both days of stroke play qualifying taking place at The Falls Club and Quail Ridge Club. Our leader on the first day, Sophie Guo, fired a stellar 66, six under par, to take the lead by two shots. Competition was close behind as eleven players were under par. The second round separated those who would move on to the match play portion of the tournament and those who would go home. Guo, once again played consistently as she fires a 67, five under par. This was enough to earn her the stroke play medalist and earn her the number one seed going into the match play rounds. Following right behind her with a scores of 69 and 66 is Taylor Roberts and nine more players at par or better. The 64 player cut line is set at a score of 155, eleven over par, after both rounds of stroke play. Two players tied with the score of 155 will be going into a sudden death playoff to determine the last and final seed into the match play field. Julia Matzat earns the final seed after a playoff against Mackenzie Dieter to move on to tomorrow's round of 64.

Round of 64

The round of 64 began Thursday morning and saw the sight of 32 victors who would be moving on in the competition. Leading that pack is the stroke play medalist, Sophie Guo, defeating Julia Matzat 8&6. Morgan Baxendale, current golfer for Vanderbilt university also moves on after defeating Gaby Amos. Last year's runner up Jamie Freedman showed her fight to the 2018 title as she won her morning match against University of Florida golfer Lauren Waidner. Along with Freedman is last year's semifinalist Karoline Tuttle, who defeated Claire Albert 2 up. Another notable player to move on is last year's Women's Stroke Play Champion Roanne Tomlinson who took the victory against Isabel Herrera 6&5. The longest morning match was played by Valentina Haupt and Erikah Neger. The match lasted 21 holes with Haupt winning. We also had an impressive hole in one by Lauren Heinlein on the 16th hole. This marks her third hole in one. The impressive field of players who have moved on are scheduled to being their round of 32 matches this afternoon.

Round of 32

As we draw nearer to crowning this year's Women's Amateur Champion, the pressure continues to grow with each passing round. Our stroke play medalist, Sophie Guo, continued her impressive week with a 3&2 victory over Marisa Messana. The round of 32 also saw its fair share of matches go into extra holes; Amelia Root punched her ticket into the Round of 16 after defeating last year's runner-up Jamie Freedman on their 19th hole. The match was back-and-forth the whole round, but it was a 19th hole birdie that advanced Amelia. Stroke play qualifying runner-up Taylor Roberts continues to show us she will be a strong contender heading into this weekend's matches. Roberts strung together 4 birdies through 14 holes as she bested fellow Florida Junior Tour player Madison Hewlett 5&4. Tomorrow morning's matches should provide plenty of drama as each player strengthens their plans on how to attack this golf course.

Round of 16

As Saturday morning began, the top 16 players teed off in hopes of making it to the afternoon matches. Sophie Guo was unable to defeat Emma Bradley, who did not let the match sway any farther than all square. At the turn Bradley was 2 up and continued her streak to eventually win 4&2 over the number one seed. Defending Stroke Play Champion, Roanne Tomlinson, was fighting through her first nine holes, getting as far back as 3 down to Lauren Heinlein. Tomlinson turned things around on the back side, winning 11, 12, 13 and 14 in a row, halving 15 and sealing her 3&2 victory on the tricky par 3 16th. In the match between Alex Rivas and Mindy Herrick, Herrick was dominated the match until Rivas was able to bring it back to all square and force the match into extra holes. After pars on the 19th and 20th holes, Herrick prevailed on the par 3 3rd to win in 21 holes. Sophia Dieter and Taylor Roberts went back and forth, but steady golf and pars allowed Dieter to secure her spot in the Quarterfinals, winning 1 up. Karoline Tuttle and Sydney Shrader's match also saw an extra hole, but with a birdie on the par 5 1st, Tuttle punched her ticket to the afternoon. Carolin Schart defeated Amanda Gartrell 2&1 after an all square match at the turn, winning holes 14 and 15 and staying steady with pars on 16 and 17. In the final match, long hitter Anita Uwadia, who began the match 1 down after 2 holes to Paloma Vaccaro, was able to come back on the last nine to grab the final spot in the quarterfinals.

Quarterfinals

After being down throughout the majority of the front nine, Roanne Tomlinson was able to bring her match against Emma Bradley back to all square at the turn. From there, Tomlinson birdied holes 10 and 13 to give her a 2 up lead and secure her spot in the semifinals with a 2&1 victory. The same story goes for Mindy Herrick, fighting her way through the front nine and the first half of the back, Herrick was finally able to win the 15th to bring her match against Kendall Griffin to 1 up with three to play. After a birdie on the 17th, Herrick won her match 2&1. Sophia Dieter and Karoline Tutle's match started off all square, but Tuttle quickly took the lead winning holes 2, 5, 6 and 7 to go 4 up at the turn. With another victory on 10, Tuttle was 5 up with 8 to play. Dieter fought back to win the 11th hole, but after a steady par of the 13th Tuttle won 5&4. The final match between Carolin Schart and Anita Uwadia saw Carolin with the advantage through the first 12 holes. Uwadia was able to bring their match back to all square with a birdie on 13, but losing the 15th and eventually the 18th allowed Carolin a 1 up victory.

Semifinals

After the match lasted an extra hole, Roanne Tomlinson defeted Mindy Herrick during the first match of the day on Sunday. Karoline Tuttle continued her winning streak by advancing past Carolin Schart, 3&1, to reach the Finals! Tuttle, coming off of a win on the Florida Junior Tour, would face Roanne Tomlinson, 2017 Stroke Play Champion, in the final match Sunday afternoon.

Finals

Tomlinson and Tuttle went head to head to determine a new Women’s Amateur Champion! Despite a birdie on the first hole, Tomlinson made three bogies in a row on holes two through four. With another birdie on hole five and bogey on hole seven, Tomlinson made the turn at 38 (+2), 1 up. Tuttle carded three bogies and the remaining holes pars to start the back-nine 1 down. A birdie on hole number 10 showed Tomlinson’s determination to be crowned Champion! Tuttle lost some ground with a bogey on the 10th hole and remained two-down until another bogey on the 14th hole put her three-down with four holes to play. Tomlinson capitalized on the opportunity and birdied the 15th hole for a 4&3 victory! Roanne Tomlinson, of Lake Mary, can add a second FSGA Championship win to her resume!

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