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By Chris Lang
ALEXANDRIA — Shelley Savage was a starter at last week’s Women’s Eastern Golf Association Amateur Championship, and one player in particular caught her eye: The University of Richmond’s Sophie DiPetrillo, who finished fifth in the event.
By the end of the day Thursday at Belle Haven Country Club, Savage and DiPetrillo were together, hoisting trophies after play was complete at the Virginia State Golf Association’s Women’s Stroke Play Championships.
DiPetrillo (Independence GC) posted a three-day aggregate 221 to win the 41st VSGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship, marking the second time in four years that a Spider has taken home the hardware. Elsa Diaz won in 2015 at Two Rivers CC.
Savage’s opening-round 73 on Wednesday proved crucial to her victory in the 21st VSGA Senior Women’s Stroke Play Championship. She struggled to an 84 in Thursday’s second round but finished three strokes clear of the field at 157 thanks to the cushion provided by strong first round.
In the 1st VSGA Super Senior Women’s Stroke Play Championship, Dot Bolling posted a two-day 165 for a comfortable 12-shot victory.
Read below for more on each championship.
41st VSGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship
Though she’s an unfamiliar face at VSGA events—DiPetrillo made her VSGA championship debut this week—DiPetrillo’s strong week at Belle Haven did not come out of nowhere. She won twice during her junior season at Richmond, including taking home the individual title at the Patriot League Championship in April.
Her strong finish at last week’s Eastern put her in a good frame of mind, and her steady play continued all week at Belle Haven. She returned a 2-over 74 on Thursday to hold off surging defending champion Amanda Hollandsworth (Great Oaks CC). Hollandsworth shot her second straight 1-under 71 but couldn’t quite recover from her opening-round 81. She finished at 223, two shots behind DiPetrillo.
Lauren Greenlief (International CC), a three-time Women’s Stroke Play Champion, shot 75 on Thursday for a three-day 224 to finish third. Greenlief’s round was undone by one bad hole, the par-5 12th, where she twice hit into a hazard and made a quadruple-bogey nine.
Though DiPetrillo’s lead looked insurmountable down the stretch, she opened the door slightly with a miscue on the par-5 16th, when she hit her second shot into a hazard. Her next shot went over the green, and she failed to get up and down for bogey, a seven leaving her jittery heading to the next tee.
“I was shaking,” she said with a laugh.
DiPetrillo stabilized with a par on the par-3 17th, and at that point, barring a total collapse on 18, she was home free. She made par on 18 and won by two.
“I knew where everybody in my group was, so I knew if I parred out, they would have to do something magical,” DiPetrillo said. “I knew I had a lead coming into today and I wasn’t doing anything crazy. I was just aiming for the fat part of the green, putting from there and going forward.”
Hollandsworth, a rising Virginia Tech senior, picked up her third runner-up finish in four years, but this one felt a little different than the other two, where she started fast and struggled to close in the final round. A rough seven-hole stretch in Tuesday’s first round proved to be too much from which to recover.
“It stinks that it was only two shots, because I look back at the first day and how many shots I threw away,” Hollandsworth said. “But it’s still great to finish near the top. Congrats to Sophie. She played really consistent.”
DiPetrillo’s next stop will be the Women’s Western Golf Association Amateur in Illinois. She said she went into the summer with some major goals, one being to work on some of her weaknesses so she could be at her best for her senior year at UR. The biggest one?
“I hate my 5-iron, totally hate it,” she said. “So I’ve hit hundreds of 5-irons over the last couple of months. … I probably hit it four or five times a round (this week) and most of them were semi-decent. I hit a few greens with it. Normally I’d just just leave it in the bag and have to manage hitting a hybrid 20 yards shorter. So it’s nice to have the option.”
21st VSGA Senior Women’s Stroke Play Championship
Savage (Army Navy CC) won her fifth Senior Women’s Stroke Play Title and her first since winning at nearby Mount Vernon Country Club in 2011. She fully admits that she wasn’t at her best on Thursday but was happy that the cushion provided by her strong first round held up.
“It was survival,” Savage said. “I just couldn’t score today. Four three-putts didn’t help. I hit kind of a chunked approach shot on 16. It just seemed like I had a lot of yardages where I was in between clubs and I always took too much.
There were some really good shots too. But no putts really fell. Just one of those days where I was slightly off, but just enough good that I can take away.”
Savage finished three shots ahead of CC of Virginia members Boodie McGurn and Natalie Easterly, both of whom posted 160. Mary Cabriele (CC of Fairfax) and Mimi Hoffman (Belle Haven CC) tied for fourth at 161.
“It was a war of attrition for me, I’m glad I survived it,” Savage joked. “I had just enough good shots, and I did better than everybody else. That’s what matters.”
1st VSGA Super Senior Women’s Stroke Play Championship
Bolling (Hidden Valley CC) won five Senior Women’s Stroke Play Championships, so it was only appropriate that she won the first edition of the championship for ladies ages 65 and older. Bolling held a commanding nine-shot lead heading into Thursday and finished well clear of Becki Davis (CC of Culpeper) to win the title. Sarah Trott de Seve (Washington G&CC) finished third.
Chris Lang is the Editor of Virginia Golfer Magazine and Manager, Digital Media for the VSGA.