VSGA Women's Golfer of the Year: Lauren Greenlief

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It was odd to even contemplate. Lauren Greenlief, the 2015 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Champion and a three-time winner of the VSGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship, was somehow stumped by the VSGA Women’s Amateur. Three trips to the final match. Three defeats.

“To go to the finals three times and come out of it without the trophy three times, it kind of beats up on you a little bit,” she said.

In July, during one of the hottest weeks of the summer, Greenlief did a little beating up of her own. And given a fourth opportunity to add her name to the Kohler Trophy, she didn’t disappoint. Greenlief jumped to an early lead in the championship match against teenage wunderkind Caroline Curtis and held on for a 3-and-2 victory.

Overall, 2017 was a strong year for Greenlief, who rallied after a 2016 season that featured surprising first-round match play losses in both the VSGA Women’s Amateur and U.S. Women’s Amateur. She found her superb form again in 2017, and the result was her third VSGA Women’s Golfer of the Year honor since 2010.

2017 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Won the 92^nd VSGA Women’s Amateur Championship, her first win in four appearances in the championship match.
• Participated in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship (with Alexandra Austin), the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship and the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship.
• Finished No. 1 in the VSGA Women’s Player Rankings.
• Teamed with Austin and her side won the 2^nd VSGA Women’s Four-Ball Championship.
• Qualified for the 2018 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship (with Katie Miller). Greenlief and Miller were two of three stroke-play co-medalists at the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, and Greenlief reached the round of 16 at the event.