Quotes from some of the competitors in Tuesday morning’s Round of 32 of the 31st U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Champions Golf Club:
Mallory Hetzel, of Virginia Beach, Va., on her 2-and-1 win over No. 1 seed Katie Miller:
On the support from Old Dominion University, where Hetzel is the women’s golf coach: “My priority is my girls and making sure that they have what they need. When I can squeeze in some time for myself, I do. They do encourage me to play and practice a lot with them. I owe them a lot of credit in encouraging me to keep my game up and pushing me.”
On defeating Miller, a longtime fellow competitor: “We go back to junior golf, college golf, and a little bit of Futures Tour golf. I knew it was going to be a tough match. Not saying that I packed my bags last night, but I may have neatly arranged my clothes in my suitcase. Obviously, she's the No. 1 seed for a reason.”
On the keys to the match: “I was really good on the front nine. Sprinkled in a few birdies and had some good pars. She didn’t have her best stuff today. If she would’ve, she probably would’ve taken me. She birdied 15; we halved 16 with pars [leaving Hetzel 2 up]; then I just made an incredible up-and-down on 17. I was in the right rough about 80 yards. She had 25, 30 feet for birdie. I hit it up there maybe 15 feet. She missed her birdie putt, and then I made the putt for par to win.”
Katie Miller, the No. 1 seed, who lost to Hetzel:
“She was making everything. There wasn’t a 15-footer she didn’t look at that she didn’t make. And on No. 10, I just got too aggressive. I hit a really good drive, and I think it was a little too aggressive given the ball above my feet [for the approach shot]. So I pulled it a hair left of the flag, but once you hit on that slope, it’s so severe that it bounced down into the water."
"As we were coming down the stretch, I felt like I was controlling things, but at that point, you’re just down a little too much. Too big of a hole to get out of for sure.”
“It’s a tough bracket to get through. No doubt about it. You have a lot of former Division I college players here, women who know their way around the golf course. A lot with experience, too, in match play.”
Meghan Stasi, a four-time champion, defeated Tara-Joy Connelly in 23 holes. Stasi lost a late 3-up lead, then birdied No. 18 to force extra holes:
“It was a great start for me, but recently I’ve just – the last few years I've been up in the last few holes and decided to give it away. I told myself from the start, par is your friend, par is your friend, and then I didn't make par on 15, 16, or 17. Gave it right back. I don't know how I quite made that putt on 18, it was off the green and breaking, like a 4-foot break. You just never know.”
On the playoff holes: “I had the advantage on 1, 2, 3 and 4. You know, I was putting last and I had a chance to make them all, and on the edge, on the edge, little short, little short. Then she unfortunately made bogey on the fifth playoff hole, and I made a 6-foot putt for par to win.”
Lauren Greenlief, 2015 champion and No. 2 seed, on her 7-and-6 victory over Kelly Ly:
“I started out the round pretty solid. Got a couple up early, and then was able to kind of continue to build off that lead, mainly through making pars. There were a couple times where I had hit it a little offline and I had to go over or under a tree. But was able to get it up either on the green or close to the green and make pars and convert those to stay in the match.”
“I’m taking it one match at a time. Kind of in that mindset. Trying to stay aggressive. I think if I do that, I have a pretty darn good shot.”
Shannon Johnson, last year’s runner-up and the No. 4 seed, on her 5-and-4 win over Julia Hodgson:
“I hit the ball pretty solid, not great. I left myself in the right spots on the green. Had some good putts and was able to convert them, especially the first couple holes.
“I think we’re reading the greens better. I think that was evident with the putting today, this morning. You know, ball-striking comes and goes. If you can make the putts, makes everything else seem a little bit easier, definitely.”
