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Virginia Women's Amateur Championship
14 Jul 2006
see also: Virginia Women's Amateur Championship, River Bend Club

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2006 Virginia Women's Amateur Champion
2006 Virginia Women's Amateur Champion

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (July 14, 2006) –– Tazewell’s Carol Green, 22, posted a 3 and 1 victory over Norfolk’s Kristen Simpson, 20, to win the 81st Virginia State Golf Association Women’s Amateur Championship, which concluded today at Farmington Country Club (5,784 yards, par 35-36—71).

A former standout golfer at James Madison University, Green won five of the final six holes of the match to get past the U.Va. junior and claim her first State Women’s Am title.

“I’ve been trying to do this for a long time and it feels great to finally break through the barrier and be on top. You can’t beat this feeling,” said Green, an event quarterfinalist in 2004. “She played great. I had to play very hard to keep up with her, much less win.”

In a well-played match by both golfers on the first nine, Simpson got the match to all square at the par-4 fifth hole, knocking a 5-iron approach to 10 feet before draining the ensuing putt. She got to 1-up a hole later, hitting a 7-iron at the par-3 sixth to within 2 feet. Simpson made par at No. 9 to own a 2-up advantage at the turn. She hit eight of nine greens on the outward half and, counting the concessions that are typically a part of match play, shot two under, while Green was even. There was only one bogey between the golfers on the outward half. Simpson knew she would have to continue her solid play to claim the final.

“Even though I was 2 up at the turn, I knew there was a lot of golf to be played,” Simpson said. “I knew I had to keep going strong.”

After both golfers halved the first two holes on the closing nine with bogeys, Green started to rally and ultimately took control of the match. She won No. 12 with an up and down par from short of the green and squared the match after knocking an approach to 8 feet short of the flagstick for a conceded par at No. 13; Simpson’s second found a fronting greenside bunker and her blast flew too long.

Green continued to change the momentum of the match at the par-5 14th, softly drawing a 4-wood second shot from a downhill lie onto the green to take a 1-up lead, an advantage she would not relinquish. With a par at No. 15 to go 2 up, Green culminated a pivotal four-hole run that saw her win Nos. 12-15, a span in which she was one under.

“That was huge,” said Green, who is headed to graduate school for sports management at West Virginia University in the fall. “I knew, ‘Here’s your chance. You can’t let this pass you by. There are not many holes left.’ When she slipped up just a little bit, I knew that’s when I had to go at the flag.”

Green did just that at the downhill par-3 17th, hitting an 8-iron to 13 feet below the flagstick on a shot she later called “fun to watch.” She put the exclamation point on the comeback, dropping the putt in to end the match. Green was admittedly calmed by her father, Charles, a former VSGA Four-Ball and Mid-Amateur champion, who caddied for her during the final.

“I started to get ahead of myself a couple of times and my dad just said, ‘You have one shot right here. Pretend it’s your last shot.’ It helped me slow down,” she said.

It’s been a memorable golf year for the Green family; Carol’s brother, Garland, won the VSGA Junior Match Play Championship earlier this spring. Carol laughed after today’s win that “it’s dad’s turn now. The pressure’s on him.”

Despite some missed opportunities on the closing nine, Simpson, who was making her first finals’ appearance, says she takes a plethora of positives from the week.

“I definitely gained a lot more confidence this week. I’ll remember this for a while,” said Simpson, who will be competing in the North-South Women’s Amateur next week. “I made a couple of mistakes coming in, but she played really well on the back nine.”

CHARLOTTESVILLE –– Result from the final round of match play at the 81st VSGA Women’s Amateur Championship at Farmington Country Club (5,784 yards, par 35-36—71) in the championship flight on Friday, July 14.

(4) Carol Green (Tazewell) def. (2) Kristen Simpson (Norfolk), 3 and 1



ABOUT THE VSGA Women's Amateur

Match play tournament with 36-hole on-site stroke play qualifying. The low 16 qualifiers advance to match play. Open to female golfers of all ages. Participants must hold an active GHIN number issued by a licensed VSGA Member Club in good standing.

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