Thanana Kotchasanmanee nabs Citrus Ladies with scorching final round
Thanana Kotchasanmanee (Credit: WAGR)
It only took
Thanana Kotchasanmanee 29 shots to complete the front nine during the final round of the Citrus Golf Trail Ladies Invitational at Sun ‘N Lake Golf Club. It was a staggering start that ended with a 65 and a two shot victory at 4-under par.
Kotchasanmanee's closing round was the best in the field on the final day by four shots. Only the Welshwoman,
Ffion Tynan, University of Arkansas, broke 70. She finished in third place.
The closing round started at a pedestrian pace for Kotchasanmanee. She parred the opening two holes, but then birdied hole Nos. 3,4,5,7, and 8. She capped off the front nine with an eagle on the par-five ninth hole. A birdie on the 11th hole wrapped up her barrage, and her only dropped shot came on the 16th hole.
Finishing in second place was
Rianne Mikhaela Malixi. It's been a series of close calls for the Filipina who has recorded a T-3 in the Women's Asia-Pacific Amateur, a runner-up in the Women's Western Am, and a second place in the Malaysian Women's Open Am.
Malixi shot rounds of 78-69-69-70. She started the day three shots ahead of Kotchasanmanee, but that lead was erased quickly, even though Malixi shot a respectable 34 on the front nine, including birdies on hole Nos. 4, 5, and 7. However, she couldn't muster up any more birdies after the tenth hole.
Kotchasanmanee is a sophomore in high school. She is originally from Thailand, but lives in Georgia. She has also finished in a tie for fourth in the Girls Junior PGA Championship and tied for second in the PING Invitational.
In the Forever 49 division, Canadian
Terrill Samuel won in a playoff over
Martha Leach. The two women finished at 17-over par. The duo outpaced the field by ten shots and were certainly the cream of the crop.
ABOUT THE
Formerly known as the Harder Hall Invitational,
this
is a four-day no cut stroke play
tournament for women amateurs. It was played
at
Harder Hall CC for more than 65
years, but in 2021 it moves to a rotation of
courses
on the Citrus Golf Trail in Sebring,
Florida. The illustrious list of past champions
includes
the current world #1 Nelly Korda; Hall-of-
Famer
Joanne Carner; LPGA stars
Christie Kerr, Brittany Lincicome, Morgan
Pressel,
Stacy
Lewis and Charley Hull; amateur legends Carol
Semple
Thompson and Meghan
Stasi; and two members of the winning 2021
Curtis
Cup Team, Emilia Migliaccio and Gina Kim.
It has long drawn an international field and
has two Divisions: the
Championship Division and the Forever 49 Division
(max
index 16.4). It is the first of the
"Orange Blossom" series of Florida winter
tournaments.
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