Ruby Chou (Iowa Golf Association photo)
The final round of the 98th Iowa Women’s Amateur Championship concluded Wednesday afternoon at Cedar Rapids Country Club.
Ruby Chou tapped in for her par on the final hole and joined her sister,
Joy Chou, as an Iowa Women’s Amateur Champion.
“I’m super excited to have my name right next to Joy on the trophy now,” Ruby said. “I know we both work hard every day to get to where we want to be, but golf is hard sometimes. I can’t believe I made it, and I can’t wait to show it to Joy and my parents.”
After each round, Joy gave Ruby pep talks over the phone to help keep her stay focused.
“Joy and I talked about what happened and she kept telling me to do my best and don’t think too much on the course,” Ruby said. “She told me to go out there and have fun playing the tournament.”
Joy mentioned to Ruby that she would be busy and wouldn’t be able to make it to the final round, but Ruby still had hope she might.
“She told me she was not going to be there,” Ruby said. “I had feeling that she would show up. I told myself to keep it up so that I could show her that I won the tournament.”
As the flag stick went back into the 18th hole, Ruby looked up to see her sister standing over the green.
Going into the final round, Ruby had a four-shot lead over fellow Iowa State Cyclone,
Warda Amira Rawof. After the front nine, Chou was two-over and was holding on to a two-shot lead.
“I was two-over on the front nine, but I knew all of my bogeys were from three-putts,” Ruby said. “I just needed to calm down and play smart.”
After Chou made a double on 12 and a bogey on hole 13, the two teammates were tied.
“On the back nine I made double and then a bogey, which put me in a tie with Warda,” Ruby said. “I told myself it was going to be okay, and I needed to stay positive.”
Positivity was key for Chou. After sticking a wedge from 86 yards out, Chou tapped in her birdie and got back on track.
“After my birdie on 14, I told myself, ‘You got this’ and I finished strong,” Ruby said.
That she did. Chou parred the final four holes to close out the tournament and win by two-shots.
Eden Lohrbach pushed herself back into contention with the lowest final round score. Lohrbach fired a 72 to move back into third place and put the pressure on Rawof and Chou. Lohrbach has now finished inside the top-three in back-to-back Iowa Women’s Amateur Championships.
Amber Henson and Hannah Bermel tied for fourth place with 226, 54-hole tallies. Henson carded the second-lowest round of the day with a 73, and Bermel’s 76 secured a spot inside the top-five.
View results for Iowa Women's Amateur
ABOUT THE Iowa Women's Amateur
Open to female amateur golfers who maintain
a residence in the state of Iowa and are members of
the Iowa Golf Association. 54-hole stroke play event
with two divisions: a Championship Division which
will
not be
flighted and an Open Division which will be flighted
after the second round. There are
60 guaranteed spots in each division.
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