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Decorated mid-amateur Meghan Stasi claimed another title Friday, this one at the Women’s Amateur Championship staged by the Amateur Golf Alliance at the South Course of Forest Creek Golf Club in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
Stasi, from Overland Park, Florida, carded a final-round 4-over-par 76 to take the victory by one stroke ahead of Mariah Hopkins (Danville, Virginia) and Lauren Greenlief (Ashburn, Virginia).
In the event’s senior division, Therese Quinn (Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida) carded rounds of 76-74-72–222 to win by five strokes ahead of Amy Ellertson (Free Union, Virginia).
Stasi, who recently won the Ladies National Golf Association Mid-Amateur in April, began her final round tied with defending champion Greenlief and Megan Buck (North Easton, Massachusetts). Despite a slow start from the entire group, Stasi shared the lead with Greenlief and Hopkins with nine holes to play.
Halfway through that closing stretch it was a battle; with winds picking up, the Tom Fazio-designed course began to show its teeth. Stasi birdied and Greenlief bogeyed on the par-5 12th hole, but a Stasi bogey on the par-5 14th brought her lead down to one stroke.
Greenlief made double bogey on the par-3 17th, so Stasi made her way to the par-4 18th with a three-shot lead. However, the eight-time Florida State Golf Association player of the year carded a closing triple bogey, and Greenlief had a 20-foot bogey putt to force a sudden-death playoff. It burnt the edge and Stasi’s 6-over-par 222 overall was enough to claim the win.
“I knew it was close,” Stasi said. “I kind of snuck in a few today. I wasn’t able to play last year, so I’m just really fortunate to be here. This is a huge win.”
Stasi added her new championship to four U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur titles (2006, 2007, 2010 and 2012) and 17 state championships. In November, she will be inducted into the FSGA Hall of Fame.
Greenlief shared runner-up honors with Hopkins, who carded a final-round 4-over 76. Shannon Johnson (North Easton, Massachusetts) had the round of the day with 2-under 70, and the 2018 U.S. Women’s Mid-Am champion tied for fourth with Buck, Amanda Jacobs (Portland, Oregon) and Ina Kim-Schaad (the 2019 U.S. Women’s Mid-Am champion from Rhinebeck, New York).
In her senior victory, Quinn carded the lowest final round in the division by two strokes. Her even-par 72 was highlighted by birdies on the par-5 seventh, par-5 12th, par-4 13th and par-4 18th.
RESULTS
Staff and Wire Reports