LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (May 22, 2008)--Alina Lee of Athens fired a final-round 71 to secure victory at the 39th annual Greater Atlanta Women’s Amateur Championship, which was held at Northwood Country Club, May 20-22. Riverdale’s Mariah Stackhouse, who began the day one shot off Lee’s pace, bogeyed three of her first five holes and finished six shots behind in second place. Hartwell’s Anna Rogers posted a final-round 75 to finish tied for third position with first flight winner, Cherry Lewis of Covington.
“I really struck the ball well today,” Lee explained. “Then I started making putts, I just scored. The biggest thing was just staying out of trouble. I never really put myself in a bad place.”
Lee, 17, recorded bogeys on her third and fourth holes of the day and Stackhouse, who had posted bogeys at holes two and three kept pace. Things began to slide away from Stackhouse, however, when she failed to convert a short par putt on the 352-yard fifth.
“I just could not putt today,” Stackhouse commented. “I left a few short and missed some putts that I really should have made.“
The duo exchanged birdies on the sixth hole, a 333-yard par-4, but birdies at on the eighth, ninth and tenth holes by Lee allowed her to post a one-under-par score on the outward nine and pull away from the field.
“That’s really where everything started for me today,” said Lee of her play on holes six through ten. “That was the turning point. I started get putts to fall and then I knew that I just needed to play solid golf the rest of the way.”
Stackhouse, 13, could not keep pace as she posted bogeys at 11 and 12 and Lee carded another birdie at of her own at 12. Rogers, who had begun the day just three shots off the lead, lost two strokes on the front nine and then faded away with bogeys at 12, 13 and 15.
Three-time past champion, Laura Coble of Augusta, posted a final-round 75 to climb back into fifth position with a tournament total of 232. Leesburg’s Abby Fitzgerald, a member of the Kennesaw State University women’s golf squad, carded a final-round 76 to finish sixth overall. In seventh place was Metter’s Tess Fordham at 234. Alone in eighth position, at 236, was Anna Keith of Moultrie. Lauren Darnell of Gainesville, who plays college golf at Stetson University, posted a three-day total of 239 to finish ninth. Rounding out the top ten was Lilburn’s Kimberly Graff at 241.
Sue King of Chatsworth took home the Senior Award as the low senior player to play from the championship tees. King strung together scores of 83, 88 and and final-round 79 to win the award.
Other flight winners include: 2nd flight – Jennifer King of Smyrna (247); 3rd flight – Danielle Davis of Saint Simons Island (232); 4th flight – Resaca’s Rochelle Weaver (253); 5th flight – JoAnn Setliffe of Woodstock (265).
Top finishers follow:
| Pos | Name | Rd. 1 | Rd. 2 | Total |
| 1 | Alina Lee, Athens | 74 | 77 | 151 |
| 2 | Mariah Stackhouse, Riverdale | 73 | 79 | 152 |
| 3 | Cherry Lewis, Covington | 76 | 77 | 153 |
| 4 | Anna Rogers, Hartwell | 75 | 79 | 154 |
| 5 | Tess Fordham, Metter | 80 | 76 | 156 |
| T6 | Anna Keith, Moultrie | 81 | 76 | 157 |
| T6 | Laura Coble, Augusta | 78 | 79 | 157 |
| T6 | Abby Fitzgerald, Leesburg | 82 | 75 | 157 |
| T9 | Kimberly Graff, Lilburn | 84 | 77 | 161 |
| T9 | Lauren Darnell, Gainesville | 84 | 77 | 161 |