Indiana Women's Amateur: Kayla Benge secures the comeback victory

The final day of the Indiana Women's Amateur at Otter Creek GC started off steady with five-time Champion, Julia Potter-Bobb of Indianapolis, Ind., parring out the first seven holes and keeping her three-stroke lead of 6-under par over Kayla Benge of Plainfield, Ind.

Potter-Bobb ran into trouble on holes No. 8 and 9 after a few unfortunate shots and decreased her lead to one stroke at the turn. Benge was able to take advantage of this and sink a twenty-five footer for birdie on hole No. 12 to sit tied for first with Potter-Bobb. Benge gained the lead on hole No. 14.

“My turning point was my long putt on twelve," Benge said. "That shift in momentum gave me a little bit more confidence with the rest of my putts coming in and I felt it was really key."

The day quickly turned into a fight for victory as Benge and Potter-Bobb both secured their birdie opportunities on hole No. 15, followed by another birdie for Potter-Bobb on hole No. 16. This put the two players tied for the lead.

However, Potter-Bobb had a run-in with the bunker on seventeen and a tricky putt for par that ended in an unfortunate bogey. Meanwhile, Benge rode it out and closed out seventeen with a birdie and a two-stroke advantage going into the final hole.

“I didn’t hit a good tee shot on eight and I misjudged the lie," Potter-Bobb said. "I thought it was going to be a little thicker than it was and the ball didn’t come out as far as I wanted and then I missed the putt. On nine, I missed it on the wrong part of the green and I went just a little bit long. That was my only three-putt the entire tournament, so it was bad timing but those were really my only hiccups of the day."

Both players finished the last hole with a par and Benge was named the 2023 IWGA Amateur Champion for the first time.

Potter-Bobb added, “Kayla played amazing and she hit the ball where she needed to. She really didn’t miss and that’s what you have to do out here and I wasn’t able to do that for the third day”.

Benge has been in contention to win the Women’s Amateur a handful of times but today was her first time coming out victorious.

“This is really really incredible," Benge said. "This has been on my list of things I want to win and I think the only thing left now that I haven’t won is the Indiana PGA Women’s Open. I’ve led this event a couple of times, whether that’s been after round one or two but I’ve never been able to close it out."

Benge added "I feel like such a different person now than the previous times that I have competed. I feel more at ease, more confident in who I am as a player, and I just played to my strengths this week."