Every summer for five days, the state’s elite female amateurs gather at one of the top courses to vie for the Women’s Texas Amateur Championship title. It’s always a stellar field. The best collegiate players in Texas, the most skilled juniors and decorated mid-amateurs and seniors all put themselves to the test at the most prominent championship in the state.
The talented fields attracted annually by the event are undoubtedly a big part of what makes the Women’s Texas Amateur so significant. But it’s not the only reason. A portion of the championship’s beauty lies in its unique format. It opens with an 18-hole, stroke play round. The 32 players with the lowest scores qualify for the Championship Match Play Bracket. The rest of the field is divided into match play flights.
From there, the tournament takes on a virtual March Madness-like feel. In match play, it’s one-on-one competition. Golfers play the person across from them and no one else. It’s pure, head-to-head competition. And, just like the NCAA Tournament, success in the Women’s Texas Amateur carries the same “survive and advance” mentality. It doesn’t matter how a player wins or what total score she shoots. The only thing that counts is beating her opponent and moving on to the next round.
It takes five match play victories in three days to win the state’s long-running women’s amateur championship.
Perhaps more than most, two players in this year’s 98th Women’s Texas Amateur, set for July 16-18 at Bent Tree Country Club in Dallas, have unique perspectives on what it takes to grind through the match play bracket.
Runner-up Julia Gregg from Carrollton and semifinalist Jenna Phillips from Leander combined to win eight matches last summer at San Antonio Country Club. They both fell short of winning the championship; Allen’s Amber Park defeated Gregg, 4&3, in the Championship Match. Gregg dispatched Phillips, 2&1, in the semifinals.
Bent Tree always has had a championship pedigree. It hosted the LPGA Mary Kay Classic from 1979-82. Among the winners during that stretch were World Golf Hall of Famers Nancy Lopez (1979) and Jan Stephenson (1982).
Phillips, a three-time collegiate winner at Sam Houston State before recently graduating, shot an even-par 72 in the qualifying round last year. She scored the No. 2 overall seed in the Championship Match Play Bracket. Phillips then won her first three matches in dominating fashion; none of them reached the 15th hole.
In the semifinals, Phillips dropped two of the first three holes to Gregg. Phillips was four down with four holes to play, but she drained a 20-foot putt on No. 15 to extend the match. She then willed in a slippery 5-footer on No. 16 to push Gregg to the 17th hole, where Gregg closed out the match.
Phillips said the loss to Gregg motivates her to at least reach the finals this year.
“I did push the match against Julia further and took it to the last couple holes, so that motivates me,” Phillips said. “I know if I start stronger in the match, I can win. I remember losing a couple of the first few holes, which made me have some distrust in my swing. After another year of competitive golf, I now know how to better react to a slower start and adjust more efficiently.”
As for the match play format, Phillips loves it.
“You can have a bad hole, and you’re only down by one,” she said. “It’s a different mindset for me. One mistake doesn’t cost you too much. You just have to stay patient.”
Last year’s 97th Women’s Texas Amateur was the first time Gregg ever played match play. The recent high school graduate from Prestonwood Christian Academy earned the No. 11 seed in the Championship Match Play Bracket after her 2-over 74 in qualifying.
Gregg promptly went out and defeated four of the best amateurs in the state, including Phillips.
“I definitely exceeded my expectations,” said Gregg, a 2016 Drive, Chip & Putt national finalist, a two-time TAPPS high school individual state champion who has four top-10 finishes on the Legends Junior Tour. “I didn’t know what to expect. I wanted to see how I played and matched up. And I was really happy with how everything turned out.”
In several of her matches, Gregg lost the first hole. She said she quickly figured out how to put bad holes behind her and plod forward.
“I just had to take it one shot, one hole at a time and fight as hard as I could to get it back,” she said. “Some matches I was able to put the blinders on and just go play golf. I could do that in the morning matches. The afternoon matches, after I’d already played 18 or sometimes 19 holes, I was a little tired. I had to focus harder on my routines and think about every shot.”
Gregg may have an advantage over the field this year. Her high school team routinely practiced at Bent Tree, so she has intimate knowledge of the sublime tree-lined course.
“It’s a good driving golf course,” Gregg said. “It sets up well for me. It’s a good fit for my game. The greens are pretty big, and it’s always in really good condition. It’ll be a really fun course for match play.”
Since it opened for play in 1974, Bent Tree always has had a championship pedigree. The north Dallas club hosted the LPGA Mary Kay Classic from 1979-82. Among the winners during that stretch were World Golf Hall of Famers Nancy Lopez (1979) and Jan Stephenson (1982). Bent Tree in 1999-2000 also hosted the Bank One Championship, which at the time was a flagship event on the PGA Senior Tour (now PGA Tour Champions). Two more World Golf Hall of Fame inductees, Tom Watson and Larry Nelson, respectively, captured titles at Bent Tree.
Championship golf and champion golfers go hand-in-hand at Bent Tree, and that applies to the elite amateur class as well. Over the years, Bent Tree has welcomed some of the highest profile events on the TGA annual schedule. Most recently, the club hosted the 93rd Women’s Texas Amateur in 2014 and the 106th Texas Amateur in 2015. It was only the 11th time in more than a century, and the first time in 40 years, that a club staged back-to-back men’s and women’s state amateur championships in consecutive years.
For Gregg, Phillips and the rest of the gifted hopefuls in the field this July, Bent Tree undoubtedly will supply the canvas for another memorable championship. For more on the 98th Women’s Texas Amateur, click here.
