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By Chris Lang
CHARLOTTESVILLE — The defending champion versus a rising young player. A matchup between a University of Virginia graduate and a soon-to-be Virginia Tech senior. The semifinals are set at the 93rd Virginia State Golf Association Women’s Amateur Championship.
Ashburn’s Lauren Greenlief, the defending tournament champion and top seed in match play, breezed through her two matches on Wednesday at Farmington Country Club to set up a semifinal with 16-year-old Midlothian resident Rory Weinfurther, who ousted a pair of junior girls in her quadrant of the bracket.
On the other side, a Hokies vs. Hoos match awaits in Thursday’s second semifinal. Floyd’s Amanda Hollandsworth, who will begin her final season with Virginia Tech next month, won twice and will meet Troutville’s Lyndsey Hunnell, who recently graduated from UVa.
The winners meet in the 18-hole championship match, slated to begin at noon.
Greenlief (International CC) played just 25 of a possible 36 holes on Wednesday, defeating Farmington member Meghan Fahey 6 and 5 in the morning before ousting Danville’s Mariah Hopkins (Danville GC) 7 and 6 in the afternoon. She was 3 up through three holes against Fahey and 3 up through four against Hopkins and cruised in both matches.
“I’ve played the front nine really solid all week,” Greenlief said. “I was just trying to get off to a good start on the front. I like playing from ahead in matches. I was just consistent. I hit fairways and greens. I didn’t sink a lot of putts today. I didn’t necessarily need to. I just needed to stay consistent.”
Greenlief, who is vying to become the fourth woman this decade to repeat as Women’s Amateur champion, will face an event rookie in Weinfurther, a rising junior at St. Catherine’s School who has committed to play college golf at the University of Richmond.
Weinfurther has already played in the U.S. Junior Girls’ Championship and the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, so her semifinal appearance is hardly a surprise. She defeated Roanoke’s Jayde Dudley (Hidden Valley CC) 4 and 3 in the morning. In the afternoon, she squared off against friend Kendall Turner of Chesapeake (Greenbrier CC) and sank a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 17 to clinch a 2-and-1 victory.
“I wish both of us could have won,” Weinfurther said. “Her front nine was a lot better than my front nine. I thought I was just kind of playing average and she hit every shot perfect. Then on my back nine, I started to catch some steam,” noting an eagle on 11 and birdies on 12 and 13.
Weinfurther will be tasked with trying to slow Greenlief. The two played together in the final grouping in Tuesday’s second round of stroke-play qualifying, so Weinfurther has an idea of what she’s up against.
“After these two days, I definitely think I have a chance,” Weinfurther said. “I want to think like that. I don’t want to count myself out. But I definitely don’t think I have anything to lose, so it should be a good match.”
Hunnell, who has a year of eligibility remaining and will use it as a graduate student at Xavier University in Cincinnati, had never advanced past the round of 16 before Wednesday. Her only previous victory in the Women’s Amateur came in 2013 when 32 players advanced to match play.
She defeated former UVa player Jessica Merrill (Birdwood GC) 2 and 1 in the morning and handled Henrico’s Diana Domenech (VSGA Junior Golf Circuit) 7 and 6 in the afternoon.
“I just kind of stayed steady in my game and waited for it to come to me,” Hunnell said. “It worked itself out.”
Hunnell’s father caddied for her on Wednesday and helped in steadying her putting reads, a big factor in her victories, she said.
Her opponent, Hollandsworth, is a two-time Women’s Amateur finalist. She defeated longtime friend Katie Turk (Blacksburg CC) 2 and 1 in the morning before eliminating Potomac Falls’ Katie Reilly (Trump National, Washington DC) 4 and 3 in the afternoon. Hollandsworth clinched the victory with a nifty approach shot on 15 that settled a foot from the hole. Reilly conceded the putt before missing her birdie chance.
“It’s going to be fun,” Hollandsworth said of her matchup with Hunnell. “It’s a long time coming. She’ll have her UVa gear on. I’ll have my Virginia Tech gear on. It’s always fun just to see that. We know at the end of the day, we’re going to be friends no matter what.”
Only one match on Wednesday reached the 18th hole. In that round-of-16 match, Hopkins needed a 19th hole to defeat 12-year-old Lauren Cottet-moine of Sterling and advance to the quarterfinals.