Jordan Ferreira of University Place, Wash. shot an even-par 72 in today's final round to win the 21st Washington State Women's Amateur by four shots. Alison Murdoch of Victoria, B.C. came from behind to win the 15th Washington State Senior Women's Amateur, while Carol Dick of Lakewood, Wash. went wire-to-wire in winning the Inaugural Washington State Super Senior Women's Amateur.
The three championships were conducted by the Washington State Golf Association, and were held concurrently at Port Ludlow (Wash.) Golf Club.
In today's final round, Ferreira, who had started the day with a five-shot lead, kept to her game plan on the tight, tree-lined fairways of Port Ludlow by using her driver only twice. "I wasn't playing conservative," she said in her post-round interview. "That's just what this course calls for. Fairways and greens, and make a putt once in a while."
Ferreira, 19, was the only player in the field to finish under par for the championship, continuing her stellar play this summer. She just finished her freshman year playing on the women's golf team at the University of Notre Dame. Last month she set a course record in qualifying for last week's U.S. Women's Open. She missed the cut at Pinehurst, and came directly to Port Ludlow from North Carolina. "It was a really hard golf course," she said of Pinehurst No. 2. "But, yes, it was a great experience."
Ferreira is a two-time WSGA Junior Girls' Player of the Year.
Finishing second, four shots behind Ferreira, was Alivia Brown of Gig Harbor, Wash. Brown was tied for the lead after the first round, but stumbled to a 4-over par 76 in the second round before rebounding in today's final round, shooting a 1-under par 71. She and Ferreira had the only two rounds of the championship under par. Brown and Ferreira were teammates on their high school golf team before Ferreira graduated last year. They remain friends, and were paired together in the final group the final two rounds. In the fall, Brown will be playing on the women's golf team at Washington State University.
Also in today's final group was Christina Proteau of Port Alberni, B.C., who finished third, six shots behind Ferreira. Proteau is better known as a mid-amateur player who is a two-time defending champion of the Canadian Women's Mid-Amateur and has been named the PNGA Women's Mid-Amateur Player of the Year the past two years.
This is the second Senior Women's Amateur title for Murdoch, having also won this championship in 2010. Murdoch, a member of the Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Fame, had a six-shot lead after the first round, but Denise Kieffer of University Place, Wash. stormed past her after round two with a 1-over par 73. Starting today's final round two shots back of Kieffer, Murdoch played a steady round 4-over par 76, while Kieffer stumbled to an 84.
Carol Dick of Lakewood, Wash. went wire-to-wire in winning the Super Senior Women's Amateur, finishing five shots ahead of Mary Ryan of Renton, Wash.
Past champions of the Washington State Women's Amateur have gone on to make their mark in the golf community, and include Paige Mackenzie (2002), a member of the University of Washington Athletic Hall of Fame who finished her senior year ranked the No. 1 golfer in the nation by Golfweek, and who currently plays on the LPGA Tour; Kelli Kamimura (2001), a former four-time high school state champion and All-American at the UW, who now is the head coach of the women's golf team at Washington State University; Jimin Kang (1999), who was the runner-up at the 1999 U.S. Women's Amateur while still in high school, and who now plays on the LPGA Tour; Molly Cooper (1997, 2000), who was the medalist at the 2000 U.S. Women's Amateur qualifier, and who now is the Director of Tournament & Member Programs at the Pacific Northwest Section PGA; Renee Skidmore (2005), who recently competed on the Golf Channel's Big Break series; and Erynne Lee (2011), who was selected the WSGA Women's Player of the Year in three consecutive years, made it to the quarterfinals or better of the U.S. Women's Amateur three times, and is now a rising star on the UCLA women's golf team.
