ALPHARETTA, Ga. – Kathryn Fowler of Americus carded three birdies over the last six holes to post a final-round 76 and win the 41st annual Greater Atlanta Women’s Amateur Championship by one stroke over second-round leader Sarah Butts of Carrollton at The Manor Golf and Country Club. Fowler finished the 54-hole championship at 9-over-par 225, while Butts, who posted a final-round 79, finished at 226.
Reigning GSGA Senior Women’s Player of the Year Brenda Pictor of Marietta moved up two spots in the final standings to finish third, just two strokes back at 227. A triple-bogey on the 373-yard 15th hole proved to be the difference on her scorecard, as she finished with a final-round 76.
Caitlin Watts of LaGrange finished fourth at 228. The trio of Dayana Marquez of Atlanta, Kayla Jones of Alpharetta and Lauren Court of Lawrenceville all tied for fifth and shared top honors in the first flight with a tournament total 229. First-round leader Carolyn Barbee of Cartersville wound up eighth overall at 230, while Kaylee Branton, also of Cartersville, was ninth at 231. Amelia Hill of St. Simons Island finished out the top 10 with a 234.
Fowler, a rising sophomore on the golf team at Ole Miss, trailed Butts by three strokes going into the final round, and actually lost ground over the front nine with three bogeys and a triple bogey on No. 5 (410 yards). After beginning the round 6-over-par for the Championship, she turned at 11-over. Butts, meanwhile, turned at 6-over for the Championship to maintain a five stroke lead with nine holes to play.
Butts’ biggest trouble came on No. 10, which she triple-bogeyed. She stayed steady with pars on seven of the final eight holes, but a bogey on the 138-yard, par-3 16th proved to be the difference in the final standings, as she finished at 10-over. At the same time, Fowler was making a late charge – after getting to 12-over with a bogey on the par-3 12th, she went on to birdie 13 (457 yards), 16 and 17 to get back to nine-over and edge past Butts for the victory.
The field of 58 players was divided into six flights based on handicap index. The championship through second flights played from the same tees (5,992 yards, par 72) and were eligible for the overall championship. The third through fifth flights played the course as a par-72 from 5,373 yards. Entries were open to female amateur golfers who are members of a GSGA Member Club.
Other flight winners were Savannah Grice of Atlanta in the second (237), Sydney Dunning of Marietta in the third (243), Janet Thielemann of Woodstock in the fourth (245) and Shelby Stanfield of Alpharetta in the fifth (275). For full field results click on the "results" link below:
