Taylor Karle Wins Women's Western
LIMA, OH (June 20, 2009)--Taylore Karle of Scottsdale, Arizona, is the winner of the Women’s Western Golf Association’s (WWGA) 109th National Amateur Championship at Shawnee Country Club in Lima, Ohio. Karle defeated Dottie Ardina, Sta. Rosa Laguna, The Philippines, by a score of 2&1 in the scheduled 36 hole final.
In a closely contested match which was even after 33 completed holes, Karle had an unbelievable birdie on the Par 5, 16tth hole which was the 34th hole played. She hit her drive a bit left but hit a tree branch which left the ball in the rough between some trees. Her shot out the trees ended up on the fringe about a foot off of the green. She got down in two for a birdie against Ardina’s score of 5 to take a 1 up lead. Karle scrambled to make a 4 on the 17th hole after hitting her second shot behind the green. Unfortunately, Ardina’s second shot hit a tree branch and the rest was history with Karle winning the hole and the match.
132 players started the week competing for the Championship Title. The low 64 players competed in Championship Flight. The Medalist was Kristina Wong, Vestal, New York, who had 73-73-146. Abby Bools, Bald Heal Island, North Carolina, shot 149 and Ardina shot 75-75-150 to be the 3rd Seed. Karle shot 76-76-152 to be the 12th seed. Karle and Ardina both played 9 rounds of golf in six days but luckily neither was extended beyond 18 holes in any of their matches.
18 year-old Karle was excited to win the tournament and planned on going to a Country and Western concert tonight before heading back home to Arizona tomorrow. Karle, a 3 time AJGA Rolex All American, plans to play more amateur tournaments over the summer before returning to Pepperdine University for her Junior year in the fall. She was an alternate on the 2008 Curtis Cup Team and hopes her win today will help her make the 2010 Curtis Cup Team.
Ardina was planning on celebrating getting to the finals of this Championship by going to bed and catching up on her sleep. Ardina, a student IMG Academies/David Leadbetter Golf Academy, will be 16 on December 2nd. She previously won the Women’s Western Golf Association’s National Junior Championship in 2007 and was the Medalist in this tournament last year. She vowed to come back to next year’s Amateur Tournament and give it another shot to have her name on the Alexander trophy that she so wanted to do this year.
The Women’s Western Golf Association again wants to thank the members and Staff of Shawnee Country Club for providing such a wonderful venue to hold this tournament. The WWGA’s next tournament will be the National Junior Championship which will be held at Hope Valley Country Club, Durham, North Carolina, July 13-17.
ABOUT THE Women's Western Amateur
The The Western Golf Association (WGA) has
partnered with the Women’s Western Golf
Association to administer the
Women’s Western Amateur. Held without interruption
since 1901, this event is one of the
oldest annual championships in women’s amateur
golf. The list of past champions includes
current stars and legends of the LPGA TOUR,
including Ariya Jutanugarn (2012), Stacy Lewis
(2006), Brittany Lang (2003), Grace Park (1998),
Cristie Kerr (1995) and Nancy Lopez (1976).
The Women's Western Amateur is open to amateur
women who have an up-to-date 18-hole
handicap index
that does not exceed 5.4 under the World Handicap
System. The WWGA Committee limits the
field to a
maximum of 120 contestants.
The championship begins with 36 holes of stroke-
play qualifying, after which the field is cut to
the low 32
players for match play. In the event of a tie for the
32nd position, a sudden-elimination playoff
will determine
the final match play qualifiers. Five rounds of 18-hole
matches will decide the Women's
Western Amateur
champion.
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