Women's Western Am: Match play begins

DAYTON, Ohio (June 19, 2013) -- The Match Play portion of the WWGA’s 113th National Amateur Championship started at 7:00 am on Wednesday morning. Seed #1 Brooke Henderson, Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada, needed all 18 holes to defeat #64 seed Sarah Harris, Hermitage, Tennessee 2 up. The #2 Seed Dana Finkelstein, Chandler, Arizona, defeated Brianna Midkiff, Carmel, Indiana, 5 and 4.#3 Seed Isabel Southard, Sharon, Massachusetts, was upset by Emmie Pietila, 2 & 1. Southard, the 2012 Massachusetts High School Girl’s Champion, set a single season scoring record at Boston College 2012-2013. She is going to transfer to the University of Denver this fall. Pietila, who also just completed her Freshman year at the University of Tennessee, travels to tournaments with her parents in their motor home. #4 Seed Augusta James, Bath, Ontario, Canada defeated Kiersten Klekner-Alt,Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 2 and 1. James, who was named Augusta because she wasborn on the opening day of the 1993 Masters, attends North Carolina State University.Klekner-Alt attends the University of Ottawa and was the individual Medalist at theNCAA Division 2 Lion’s Classic in March, 2013. #5 Seed Christine Wong, Richmond, British Columbia,Canada, def. Christina Ocampo, Delray Beach, Florida, 2 and 1. Wong is a 2013 graduate of San Diego State University and was the 2012 British Columbia Amateur Champion. Ocampo was the Florida State Championship winner in both 2010 and 2011 and is now attending the University of Miami. #6 Seed Ashlan Ramsey, Milledgeville, Georgia, defeated Alison Kruse, Overland Park, Kansas, 5 and 4. Ramsey is ranked #3 in Golfweek’s Women’s Amateur Rankings and will start Clemson University in the fall. Kruse is an Academic All American at Seton Hall University. Penn State’s #7 Seed Ellen Ceresko lost to Susan Kirschenman, Huxley, Iowa,1 up. Ceresko was the 2012 Pennsylvania State Amateur Championship winner andKirschenman played in last year’s United States Amateur Championship while onsummer break from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. The #8 seed ReginaPlascensia, Guadalajara, Mexico, lost to Marissa DeCola, Butler, Pennsylvania, 1 up.Plascensia, who shot a 67 in Tuesday’s Qualifying Round (which appears to be thewomen’s tournament course record at Dayton Country Club) just finished her FreshmanYear at the University of Arkansas. DeCola is a Sophomore at Indiana University.In other matches in Championship Flight, the following have advanced to Thursday Morning’s round of 32: Brittany Marchand, Mono, Ontario, Canada; Gabriella Then, Rancho Cucamonga, California; Kacie Komoto, Honolulu, Hawaii;Mike Liu, Beverly Hills, California; and Hally Leadbetter, Bradenton, Florida.Matches in the remaining flights were completed before nightfall. On Thursday all six flights will play in the morning with Championship Flight going off againstarting at 7:00 am. Tomorrow afternoon Championship Flight will play their round of 16 starting at 1:00 pm.