Rylee Pedigo during Wednesday play at Brook Hollow Golf Club
(TXGA Photo)
DALLAS, TX (July 27, 2016) -- Overall No. 1 seed
Rylee
Pedigo from Fort Worth survived a marathon match
Wednesday against Lubbock’s Marian Barker in the
95th
WTGA State Amateur Championship’s Round of 16.
Pedigo, a junior at Oklahoma, needed 21 holes to
stave
off Barker, a two-time Women’s Senior Stroke Play
Champion.
“She gave me a run for my money,” Pedigo said
with a huge exhale. “It feels incredible and gets me
pumped for tomorrow’s match. It also lets me know
I
can fight my way back.”
Pedigo, who shot 1-under 70 to claim Medalist
honors in Tuesday’s Qualifying Round, had a 2-up
lead
through 14 holes on Barker. Barker birdied the 15th
and
16th holes to draw even. The two matched pars for
the
next four holes until Pedigo ended it with a par on
the
21st hole.
“I was a scrambling fool,” said Barker, who won
the
2011 Women’s Four-Ball with Ryann White. Barker
also
has won the Women’s West Texas tournament
numerous times. “I must’ve been so frustrating to
play
against. I was getting up and down from
everywhere. I
didn’t expect to go that far, but I don’t ever quit. I
just
keep playing.”
All the winners from Wednesday morning’s
Round
of 32 matches went back out on the course for Round
16 matches. A two-hour, eight-minute weather delay
for
lightning in the area, however, put a halt to play
during
the afternoon. Play resumed at 5:23 p.m., and all
eight
Championship Bracket matches were completed.
Defending champion and No. 2 seeded Annika
Clark
from Highlands struck a decisive Round of 16 victory
with a 6-and-5 win against Melanie Willhite from
Farmer’s Branch. Clark, in the morning’s Round of 32
match, was pushed to the limit when she defeated
2009
U.S. Women’s Senior Amateur champion and
longtime
Brook Hollow member Carolyn Creekmore, 2 up, on
the
18th hole.
“She hits it so good,” Creekmore said of Clark, a
sophomore at TCU. “She really hit her driver
beautifully
today.”
Creekmore, who won the WTGA State Am in
1995,
has been a member at iconic Brook Hollow since
1989.
She said she loves the A.W. Tillinghast design and
has
“easily played over 5,000 rounds” on the par-71
track
that was built in 1920. Many champions have been
crowned on the tree-lined golf course; it has hosted
nine Texas Amateurs and seven Trans-Miss Amateurs
in
addition to scores of other amateur tournaments.
When
Creekmore explained what she loves about the shot-
maker’s course, she also shed light on how to try
and
attack it.
“I think Tillinghast is a genius,” she said. “As big
and open as this place looks, there’s only one place
on
every fairway to get to the optimal angle for the best
chance at birdie. This golf course challenges you
every
day. If you’re hitting it well and putting well, you can
score out here. If not, whew, it can get scary.”
In one of the biggest upsets of the day, 19th-
seeded Brooke McDougald from The Woodlands took
down No. 3 seed Rachel Smith from Mansfield in the
Round of 16. McDougald, also a TCU sophomore,
scored
a 3-and-2 victory over the seasoned Smith, who has
competed in the past three U.S. Women’s Mid-
Amateurs.
Thirteenth-seeded Grace Choi, a recent Michigan
grad from Dallas, also notched an upset in the Round
of
16. Choi knocked off fourth-seeded Amber Park of
Allen,
4 and 3. Park was the Junior Medalist with a 1-over
72
in Tuesday’s Qualifying Round.
Trophy Club’s Maty Monzingo, a Texas State
senior
and the No. 9 seed, defeated Midlothain’s Lydia
Traylor,
8 and 7, in the Round of 16. Traylor was the eighth
seed. Monzingo earlier in the day defeated 24th-
seeded
Erin Fahey from Austin, 2 and 1.
Also advancing through the Round of 16 and into
Thursday’s Quarterfinals were fifth-seeded Brielle
Ward
from Frisco, who needed 19 holes to hold off 12th-
seeded Emma Ballard from Kingwood, and No. 7
seed
and last year’s runner-up Maddy Rayner, who
defeated
10th seeded Paige Nelson from Farmers Branch, 3
and
2. Allen’s Julie Houston, the No. 11 seed and winner
of
the 2015 Women’s Eclectic, moved on to the
Quarterfinals with a 2-and-1 victory in the Round of
16
against Camry Tardy from Arlington.
After Tuesday’s 18-hole Qualifying Round, the
top
32 players on the leaderboard advanced to the
Championship Bracket. The other 56 players were
divided into seven flights based on their GHIN
Handicap
Indexes.
Quarterfinals Matches for the Championship
Flight
begin Thursday at 8 a.m., followed by the Semifinals
Matches in the afternoon. The climatic 18-hole
Championship Match will be played Friday at 10:20
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.
View Complete Tournament Information