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By Sara Buechler
WILLIAMSBURG — Saturday’s leading sides, Lauren Greenlief/Alex Austin and Natalie Easterly/Amy Ellertson successfully defended their titles Sunday at Ford’s Colony Country Club.
In the regular championship, Greenlief and Austin finished with an aggregate 11-under-par 133. The first half of the round started out slow with pars but then the pair got in the groove and Greenlief made a birdie on the 11th hole. Austin then came in and scored three consecutive birdies on the 13th, 14th and 15th hole.
“We never got to less than a three-shot lead, so it’s just comfortable and we knew we’d make birdies,” Greenlief said.
The pair won the tournament for the second time since 2017 by four strokes over Danielle Suh and Victoria Tip-Aucha. Suh and Tip-Aucha completed the round with a 4-under-par 68. Their two-day aggregate score was 137. Greenlief and Austin played together twice in the USGA Women’s Amateur Four-Ball and made it into the semifinals in 2016 at Streamsong Resort in Florida.
“It’s just nice to play with a partner,” Greenlief said. “You get to have someone out there to experience the golf on the course with you; the highs and the lows.”
In the senior championship, Easterly and Ellertson finished with a two-day aggregate 5-under-par 139. Their round had a little more drama when Andrea Miller and Cindy Thompson, who were one stroke back after round one, made a birdie on the 2nd hole, and found themselves tied for the lead. Patience is what secured the win for Ellertson and Easterly by making consistent pars when their competitors made two bogeys on the 3rd and 4th hole. Ellertson and Easterly made four birdies throughout today’s round. The side finished four strokes ahead of Miller and Thompson, who finished with a two-day aggregate score of 143.
The side has won five titles in a row, and they have been the only champions in the Senior Championship since its inception.
“It feels great,” Ellertson said. “We aren’t getting any younger, so it feels good.”
“I am so lucky to have her as a partner,” Easterly added.
The net division had the most suspenseful round of the day as sides Patricia Owens/Patti Peterson and Gloria Tschetschot/Laurie Cobb were fighting it out for first place. Owens and Peterson took the first-place win after a match of cards was used to break the tie. Both sides scored a two-day aggregate 9-under-par 135.
Third place winners included Jacqueline Nickels and Sirena Walsh in the regular championship, who scored a two-day aggregate 142; in the senior championship, Joanne Kitusky and Shelley Savage ended at 145; and in the net division, Anita Shull and Chelsea Hester scored a 137.
Buechler is a P.J. Boatwright intern with the VSGA.