Duan, Fallgren, Folsom and Adams Capture State Titles

Alice Duan of Seattle shot rounds of 75-69-70 to win the 27th Washington Women’s Amateur; Victoria Fallgren of Spokane won the 11th Washington Women’s Mid-Amateur; Leslie Folsom of Tukwila captured the 21st Washington Senior Women’s Amateur; and Kris Adams of Lake Tapps won the 7th Washington Super Senior Women’s Amateur.

The four championships were held concurrently on the Cascade Course at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash. and were conducted by Washington Golf (WA Golf). The Women’s Amateur and Mid-Amateur were contested over 54 holes, while the Senior and Super Senior were held over 36 holes.

Championship links:

• Women’s Amateur & Mid-Amateur:
  Final results | Photos
• Senior & Super Senior Women’s Amateur:
  Recap | Photos | Final results

After shooting 3-over 75 in the first round of the Women’s Amateur, Duan bounced back with a 3-under 69 in the second, which put her just one shot behind the leaders starting today’s final round. There was a three-way tie at the top to start the day, with Brittany Kwon of Bremerton, Jessica Mangrobang of Spokane and Madelyn Gamble of Pleasant Hill, Calif. all sitting at 1-under.

But while the leaders gradually fell away, Duan got stronger as the round went on, recording five birdies on the day, and shooting 2-under par over the final 15 holes.

“This feels really good,” Duan said afterward. “I’ve been putting in a lot of work on my game the last few months during the quarantine, so it’s always good to have it work out.”

A couple days a week Duan works in the pro shop at Inglewood Golf Club in Kenmore, Wash. “So I’m able to practice there whenever I get off work.” Duan says she’s been working on being able to shape her shots at will, and feels that was the difference for her this week at Gold Mountain. “The uneven lies and the doglegs on this course makes you work the ball.”

Duan was the only player in the field to finish the 54-hole championship under par, and was the only player to shoot in red figures in the final round.

Originally from Reno, Nev., Duan just finished her senior year on the University of Washington women’s golf team, where she was teammates with Kwon. The two players were paired together the first two rounds of this championship. “It was probably the most fun I’ve had in a tournament, having Brittany to talk to and poke fun back and forth,” Duan said.

Click here to watch Duan’s post-round interview.

In the Women’s Mid-Amateur, Fallgren began today’s final round with a one-shot lead over Tina Papatolis of Issaquah. When Papatolis, the defending champion, birdied the par-4 fourth hole to tie Fallgren at the top of the leaderboard, the two-horse race was on. The difference came on the back nine, when Fallgren posted birdies on holes 12, 13 and 15 to pull ahead of Papatolis and finish four strokes ahead.

For Fallgren, this is her third Mid-Amateur title, having also won in 2017 and 2018. She lost to Papatolis in a playoff in last year’s championship.

“My first round was pretty stable and I was pretty pleased with how I played,” Fallgren said afterward. “Yesterday I got off to just a horrific start, and I really had to get my mind right. I knew today was going to be a battle with Tina, she’s a great player and I always enjoy playing with her. I knew I just had to play my own game. I was literally doing math games in my mind walking down the fairway, just trying to stay elsewhere. I’m really happy to get this trophy back. On the back nine today I felt really in control of my game, which I hadn’t felt in a while, so it felt really good.”

Fallgren, whose home course is Manito Golf and Country Club, is the assistant golf coach for Gonzaga University women’s golf team. She was named the WA Golf Women’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year in 2017 and 2018.

Click here to watch Fallgren’s post-round interview.

Founded in 1922, WA Golf is a 501c4 non-profit, amateur golf association governed by men and women volunteers. Serving nearly 70,000 individual members at more than 550 member golf clubs and 270 golf courses throughout the state of Washington and Northern Idaho, WA Golf works to continually expand the game of golf to people of all backgrounds.

WA Golf also serves as a statewide representative of the United States Golf Association and works closely with a number of allied associations within the golf industry for the betterment of the game.

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