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Texas Women's Am: Medalist Shake struggles early, surges late
Texas Golf Association story

DALLAS, Texas (July 29, 2014) -- For the second straight day, Heather Shake shrugged off a lackluster start and turned momentum back in her favor at the 93rd playing of the Women's State Amateur.

Shake, the No. 1 seed in the Championship Match Play Bracket, lost the first three holes Tuesday in her Round of 32 match at Bent Tree Country Club against Suzanne Kenkel. A sophomore at UH-Victoria, Shake faced a similar situation Monday during the stroke play qualifier when she double-bogeyed the second hole. She bounced back with four birdies and played the final 16 holes of the qualifier under par to finish at 1-over 73, which was good for co-medalist honors.

Facing the 3-down deficit Tuesday, Shake again battled back. She made five birdies on her way to a 3-and-2 victory over Kenkel.

"She started off making a ton of putts," Shake said of Kenkel. "I told myself to stay patient. There was a lot of golf left. I started draining some long putts and turned it around."

Shake squared the match with a par on the 330-yard, par-4 10th hole. Another par on No. 12 gave Shake her first lead, and she closed out the match on the 510-yard, par-5 16th hole.

No. 2 seed Jessa LaBarbera, who shared co-medalist honors with Shake, overcame a 1-down deficit through nine holes against Debra Mielke to score a 2-and-1 victory. Both top seeds in the Championship Flight advanced to the Wednesday's Round of 16.

Three matches in the Championship Flight went to extra holes in the Round of 32. Fifth-seeded Courtney Tibiletti defeated 28th-seeded Carol Turnage in 20 holes. The No. 10 seed, Ann Holcomb, took down the 23rd-seeded Sarah Moore in 19 holes.

Veteran Women's Texas Golf stalwart Anna Schultz defeated Lindsey Hughes, the 12th seed, in 21 holes. Schultz, the 2007 U.S. Women's Senior Amateur champion, has won nearly every WTGA event during her illustrious career. Schultz is a three-time winner of the Eclectic (2010-13); she's won the Senior Stroke Play title twice (2011-12), and she won the 2008 WTGA Four Ball Championship in 2008 with Jewell Malick.

Houston's Portland Rosen scored a 7-and-5 win against her friend Catherine Herrara. Both are members at the exclusive Shadow Hawk Golf Club south of Houston and have been friends since they were 13 years old. Rosen, a recent University of Virigina graduate, birdied the first hole to jump to a 1-up lead over Herrra, a senior at Penn State. Rosen never looked back and closed out her friend on the 12th hole with a par. Rosen, who finished eighth at the 2012 NCAA Championships, is in the field for the U.S. Women's Amateur from Aug. 4-10 at Nassau Country Club in New York. From there, Rosen heads to the first stage of LPGA Tour Qualifying School at the end of August.

"Of course I'd love to win this tournament," said Rosen, the fourth seed in the Championship Flight of the Women's State Amateur. "But everything I'm doing right now is in preparation for Q-School."

In all, 16 women advanced in the Championship Flight bracket. Twenty-four additional competitors -- eight winners in the three other flights -- also advanced. Play continues at the Women's State Am on Wednesday at 8 a.m.

View results for Women's Texas Amateur

ABOUT THE Women's Texas Amateur

Eligibility: Entries are open to female amateur golfers with a certified GHIN Handicap index.

Player Field: Lowest handicap indexes in multiples of 8 with a maximum of 88 players. In the event the championship becomes over-subscribed, entries will be accepted in order of handicap index.

Format: The starting field will consist of 88 total players. The 32 players with the lowest qualifying scores will fill the championship flight and contend for the championship title. The qualifying round is optional for all but the players with the 32 lowest handicap indexes on the date the entries close. The 16 players eliminated in the first round of the championship flight match play may participate in an 18-hole stroke play consolation round. The remaining players will be flighted into seven flights of eight based on handicap indexes. The four players eliminated in the first round of flight matches will proceed to a consolation match play bracket for each flight.

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