The championship began with 36 holes of stroke-play qualifying on July 10th and 11th, followed by 18-hole single-elimination match play on July 12th and 13th, concluding today, July 14th with a 36-hole final match.
In the afternoon round, Sung kept her foot on the gas. She and Zhang tied holes 19 and 20 before Sung won the next five holes in a row to build a five-up lead. This was simply too much for Zhang to overcome. She won the 27th hole to cut the deficit to four, and then the two players matched scores the rest of the way. Sung won the match 4&3 after the 33rd hole.
“It’s definitely rewarding,” said Sung when asked about taking home the title, “this course is not easy, and it’s not easy to walk, but playing here all week has been such a treat and I’m so glad to be able to walk away with a win.”
The road to the title for Sung, who was the No. 15 seed in the bracket, included a victory over her twin sister, Sydney Sung, in the round of 16. Both sisters play on the University of Michigan women’s golf team, and Sydney went on to caddie for Lauren during the rest of her championship run.
“That was a really fun match,” said Lauren, “it was a family affair, we had like five lead changes and got to trash talk a little bit out there. It was a lot of fun being out there and being comfortable in a competitive setting, since we compete every day already.”
Sung is a rising sophomore on the Michigan women’s golf team. She played in 10 tournaments during her freshman year. In 2018, at the age of 14, she qualified for and played in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship.