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By Arthur Utley
VIRGINIA BEACH – Tournament medalist and top-seeded Becca DiNunzio won two matches
Wednesday and advanced to the semifinals of the 94th Virginia State
Golf Association Women’s Amateur Championship at Princess Anne Country Club.
The 17-year-old DiNunzio (Norfolk, VSGA
Junior Golf Circuit) edged Emma Landis, 17 (Virginia Beach, VSGA JGC) 1-up in
the morning round of 16 and defeated Danielle Suh, 17 (Herndon, VSGA JGC) 5 and
4 in the afternoon quarterfinals.
Joining DiNunzio in Thursday’s semifinal
round are Rory Weinfurther, 17, (Midlothian, Independence GC), Melanie Walker,
15, (Burke, Springfield G&CC) and Old Dominion University women’s golf team
coach Mallory Hetzel, 32, (Virginia Beach, Red Wing Lake GC).
Weinfurther is in the semifinals for the
second year in a row. She is in the same situation as last year: playing the
No. 1 seed and qualifying medalist. She lost a close match to eventual winner
Lauren Greenlief, who did not defend her title this week.
Weinfurther scored a pair of 2-and-1
victories, first over Virginia Tech golfer Katie Muscatello, 21, (Blacksburg,
Blacksburg CC) and then over 20-year-old Radford University team member Sidney
Walker (Springfield, Springfield CC).
Any of the four semifinalists will be a
first-time Women’s Amateur winner. The scheduled 18-hole final will follow the
semifinals on Thursday.
Play was delayed twice Wednesday because of
weather.
DiNunzio, who shot 6-under 64 in the second
round of qualifying, termed her first-time meeting with No. 16 seed Landis in
the round of 16 intense.
The stroke-play medalist was 3-up through
six holes. Landis responded by winning four of the next eight holes to take a
1-up lead.
DiNunzio’s answer was to birdie the par-4
16th hole for the third day in a row to tie the match, and she won
the par-3 17th with a par to go 1-up. The two halved the par-5 18th.
Suh, who won on the fourth extra hole in
the round of 16 match with Diana Domenech, 19, (Henrico, Independence), won the
first hole against DiNunzio but didn’t win another. DiNunzio was 5-up through 12 and closed out
the match with a par at No. 14.
“In the first match I was not playing
nearly as well as (Tuesday), but I still managed to put some good scores up
there. A lot of pars and not as many birdies, but it’s hard to follow a good
round,” DiNunzio said. “The competition was really, really intense the first
match. Emma Landis played really, really well. That was kind of nerve wracking
there to me for a little bit, but I was able to keep it cool coming down the
stretch.”
In the afternoon, “I think it was
definitely a grind for both of us being the second match of the day. She left a
couple of doors open for me. She’s been playing well all summer. It was by no
means easy. I started turning it on again, making a couple of birdies and that
was it.”
DiNunzio will go into the match with her
good friend Weinfurther sticking with the plan of staying within her game and “continuing
to focus on putting a good score up there. I’m sure it will be fun. We always
enjoy the competition so I’m looking forward to it.”
Weinfurther lost the first hole to
Muscatello but turned to the back nine with a 3-up lead. Victories at Nos. 12
and 14 helped Muscatello cut her deficit to 1-down, but Weinfurther won the 17th
for the 2 and 1 victory.
Weinfurther and Walker, who defeated
reigning VSGA Junior Girls’ champion Jayde Dudley, 18, (Roanoke, Hidden Valley
CC) 5 and 4 in the morning round, were tied through 12 holes in the afternoon
match. Walker went 1-up at the 13th. Weinfurther claimed the victory
by winning No. 15 with a birdie and Nos. 16 and 17 with pars.
“The first match I never really felt like I
was hitting the ball super well. I felt like I was hitting it good enough to
where I could get it on the green and make a two-putt, but I wasn’t giving
myself too many chances for birdie,” said Weinfurther, who says her biggest
strength is staying calm. “My putting was great the first match…The second
match I thought I hit the ball much better. I hit more greens… but my putting,
the hole felt a little smaller. I was still able to pull out the win. I just
felt more comfortable out there the second match.”
The bottom bracket semifinal matches the
youngest and oldest players of the quartet.
Melanie Walker beat Rachel Detore, 16,
(Spotsylvania, Lee’s Hill GC) 3 and 1 in the first match and waited out a
1-hour weather delay before eliminating No. 2 seed Kendall Turner, 18,
(Chesapeake, Greenbrier CC) 2 and 1.
“I’m pretty excited. It’s pretty impressive
to make it here as a rising sophomore. It will be fun. It’s a good thing on my
resume, and it’s good to compete. I’m happy to play. Golf is always fun,”
Walker said.
Walker and Detore traded wins on seven
holes on the front nine of their match. Walker built a 3-up lead after 14 and
finished the match with a birdie on the par-3 17th.
Turner, who knocked out Delaney McCoy, 15,
(Virginia Beach, VSGA JGC) 4 and 2, was 3 up on Walker through seven holes in
the afternoon, but Walker pulled even at No. 12 and went up for good by winning
the 15th hole.
Walker said she was lucky she putted well
against Detore because her ball striking was off.
“Basically it was a competition of who
could make the least amount of mistakes. I made maybe three less,” Walker said.
“My game went up a notch [against Turner]. “It was a good sportsmanship match…I
know she has the ability to shoot under so it was like go out and play your
best and whatever happens happens.”
Hetzel, who started slowly in her morning
match against Kristen Hearp, 21, (Salem, Hidden Valley CC), gave herself a coach’s
pep talk and turned it one, making seven birdies against one bogey over the
next 27 holes. She defeated Hearp 5 and 3 and Grace Huffman, 19, (Fairfield,
Lexington G&CC) 3 and 2.
Huffman earned her quarterfinal berth with
a 2-up victory over two-time VSGA Junior Girls champion Victoria Tip-Aucha, 17,
(Vienna, VSGA JGC).
“You sign up for these things because you
hope to go the distance so obviously it’s exciting to still be in the running
and have a crack it,” Hetzel said.
A poor finish at the end of the stroke-play
qualifying on Tuesday didn’t sit well with Hetzel, who said she let it get to
her in the early stages of her match with Hearp.
“I give a lot of pep talks as a coach.
Anytime you have a player who is struggling, you have to give them a pep talk
and I had to do the same thing with myself. I was being way too hard on myself.
I told myself to take a deep breath and just relax,” Hetzel said.
The results speak for themselves.
Utley is a retired
Richmond Times-Dispatch staff writer and frequent contributor to VSGA
championship coverage.