August 15 - 17, 2016 ~ Heritage Village Country Club
T
A TERRIFIC TEEN
he opening round of the 51st
Connecticut State Women's
Amateur didn't go as planned
for
defending
champion
Catherine McEvoy of Innis Arden Golf
Club, after a score of 78 left her five strokes
behind the lead. However, she had been in
this place before. After all, she opened last
year's Women's Amateur Championship at
Indian Hill Country Club with an identical
score. With two rounds still to play, there was
plenty of time to make up ground.
McEvoy made headlines in
Tuesday’s second round with a remarkable
four under-par round of 69 that catapulted
her from five strokes behind to six strokes
ahead. However, history has proven that
starting the final round with a large lead
can sometimes be more difficult. A string of
missed fairways or greens can lead to costly
bogeys that give chasers hope of catching the
lead. McEvoy was able to stay focused on the
front nine, making just one bogey in windy
conditions and standing on the 9th tee, she
had maintained her six shot advantage.
“Going into today, I really didn’t
want to put too much pressure on myself
but I knew if I was able to hit fairways and
greens, I’d be pretty successful,” said McEvoy.
“My goal was to make the turn at even-par
or one over-par at the most, and I was able to
birdie #9 to get back to even-par going to the
10th tee. I felt like once I turned in even-par,
I was able to put it on cruise control and play
my own game on the back nine.”
With a commanding lead and
just nine holes to play, McEvoy still had to
“
51ST Connecticut State Women's Amateur
navigate some of the most difficult holes on
the back nine at Heritage Village Country
Club, including the par-4 16th, a hole she
had bogeyed the first two rounds. However,
McEvoy stuck to her game plan, hitting
fairways and greens and making three birdies
on the back nine, including a birdie on #16,
to finish with a final round score of 71 and a
six shot victory.
Her win marked the eleventh time
in the fifty-one year history of the event
that a player has successfully defended
their title. At just eighteen years of age,
and already a two-time Women’s Amateur
Champion, McEvoy has established herself
as a dominant force in Connecticut women’s
golf. McEvoy played the final 36-holes at six
under-par, an extraordinary accomplishment
given that the scoring average for the field on
the challenging par-73 layout was 85.7.
Finishing runner-up was 2015
CWGA Junior Champion Maisie Filler
of Hartford Golf Club, who began the day
seven strokes behind the lead and was able to
close the gap to within five early on the back
nine. Despite coming up short in the overall
division, she shot the low tournament round
of her career with a final round 70 and took
home Junior Division trophy.
M c E v o y ’s
win also marked the
first time in history
that a single club
can lay claim to both
the
Connecticut
Women’s Amateur
and Women’s Open
trophies in the same year. Earlier this year,
Jessica Carafiello of Innis Arden GC won
the Women’s Open title at Round Hill Club,
an event where McEvoy finished tied for
eighth place and earned low amateur honors
(page 16).
BELOW (TOP TO BOTTOM): Maisie Filler recorded the
lowest tournament round of her career en route to a
runner-up finish, aided by her older sister Nathalie who won
the New England Women's Amateur last summer; Division
Champions pictured (Left to right): Maisie Filler, Jen Holland,
Jean Sennett and Catherine McEvoy.
It means a lot for sure. All of the
previous winners are tremendous players
so to have my name on the trophy with
them is really special.
- Catherine McEvoy
”
Southbury, Conn. ~ Yardage: 5,593 ~ Par: 73 ~ Entries: 45