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Pictured: Linda DiVall, Andrea Miller, Alexandra Austin and Chelsea Hester
By Chris Lang
ALEXANDRIA — Competitors in the 2022 Virginia State Golf Association Women’s Stroke Play Championships battled wet and drizzly conditions on Thursday at Mount Vernon Country Club. At the end of the day, four champions were crowned.
45th VSGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship: Burke’s Alexandra Austin won her second title in the event, besting four-time champion and close friend Lauren Greenlief of Ashburn by one stroke. Austin shot 68-73-74 over the event’s three days for an aggregate total of 2-over 215 on Mount Vernon’s par-71 course. Both of Austin’s titles have come in northern Virginia, as she won the 2016 championship at Winchester Country Club.
25th VSGA Senior Women’s Stroke Play Championship: Keswick’s Andrea Miller shattered the tournament record for margin of victory, shooting 70-74 for a two-day, 2-over 144 and a 14-shot win over Spotswood Country Club’s Katie Cox, a former member at Mount Vernon. The previous largest margin of victory was Dot Bolling’s seven-shot win over Robbye Unger in 2002.
5th VSGA Super Senior Women’s Stroke Play Championship: On a day where par was indeed a good score, Mount Vernon member Linda DiVall rallied down the closing stretch with five straight pars and another in a one-hole playoff to best fellow northern Virginian Arline Hoffman. DiVall shot 78-76—154 and claimed her first title in the 65+ division.
1st VSGA Women’s Net Stroke Play Championship: Winchester’s Chelsea Hester posted 72-72 over the championship’s two days for a net total of 144 and a six-stroke victory over Herndon Centennial’s Richelle Davis.
THE STORY
WSP: Austin entered the day with a two-stroke lead but stumbled out of the gates on Thursday. She bogeyed three of the first four holes before making a double bogey on the par-4 5th hole. Frustrated, she tried to find a way to calm herself down and regain her focus.
“After I made double, I basically told myself, you’ve got to get your (stuff) together,” she said. “I was like, I’m gonna blow this. When I play, I pick a song that gets stuck in my head. So at that point, I just switched the song, and I think that helped. I picked a song with a little bit of a slower rhythm, because I felt like I was getting quick with my swing.”
The change made a difference. She played the rest of her round a 2-under par and fended off challenges from each of the competitors in her final group—Greenlief, Alyssa Montgomery and 2021 champion Jessica Spicer.
At one point, there was a three-way tie atop the leaderboard between Austin, Montgomery and Spicer at 3-over. But Austin had tap-in birdies on the par-5 12th and the par-3 16th. Combined with Spicer and Montgomery each making bogey on 15, Austin was able to regain her advantage. Greenlief put some pressure on her with a birdie on 18, but Austin calmly two-putted for par to seal her win.
“This one was more fun,” Austin said, comparing her two victories. “I got to play with Lauren the last two days, and we’ve become extremely close over the past couple of years. … It helps. You don’t have to make small talk if you’re in the cart with someone you don’t really know. For us, we’re perfectly fine chatting about random stuff. If one of us has a bad hole, we’re just content being quiet, because we know the other person just needs their moment of silence.”
Montgomery finished third at 4-over 217, and Spicer was fourth at 5-over 218.
SWSP: Miller showed off all facets of her impressive game on the short par-4 10th at Mount Vernon on Thursday. She attempted to drive the green on the 243-yard hole but missed to the left, landing in a greenside bunker. No matter. She splashed out then made a long birdie putt from the fringe.
As long as she hits the ball, Miller is extremely proud of her short game, and it played a major role in her decisive victory.
“Around the greens, I was very, very solid all week,” she said. “I’m very confident in my short game right now. I’ve been working on it a lot.”
Miller was making her debut in the Senior Women’s Stroke Play after winning the last two titles in the VSGA Senior Women’s Amateur.
“I’m really comfortable at the Homestead,” home of the Senior Women’s Amateur, Miller said. “To me, this is more of a level playing field. The course itself is a challenge, and I don’t think I have as big of an advantage as maybe I do at the Homestead.”
SSWSP: DiVall said she was in a state of shock after her come-from-behind win over Hoffman on Thursday. Hoffman spent most of the event with a three- or four-shot lead, but she began to falter down the stretch, playing the final five holes on Thursday at 5-over.
DiVall, meanwhile, kept herself calm and kept plugging away with pars to erase the deficit.
“I have a bad tendency to get ahead of myself,” DiVall said. “Nancy (Duncan) kept telling me, ‘Sing Patsy Cline, don’t get ahead of yourself, stay in the moment.’ And that was the biggest thing.
“The shot I hit on No. 9 (the final hole, as they started off No. 10), was this cutoff 9-iron because I couldn’t get there with a pitching wedge. I just hit this low draw in there, and it held because it was wet. It would have never held otherwise.”
DiVall and Hoffman played off on No. 1. Hoffman got in trouble down the left side, hit a bunker and eventually made six. DiVall made another par, a score plenty good enough to secure victory.
“It’s been awhile since I’ve been in the winner’s circle, so I’m in a little bit of shock,” she said. “I love the super senior division.”
NWSP: Hester received 14 strokes on Thursday, made five net birdies and worked around some trouble to finish atop the leaderboard. The first-year Net Women’s Stroke Play started with 24 players and finished with 21, a clear sign that net competition is a growth area going forward.
“I just love the game of golf,” Hester said. “To be honest with you, I was paired with just some incredible ladies this week. They made it such a fun experience. It’s fun getting to know new people who share the same passion that I do. It’s fun to hear about their backgrounds as well, and to get to play the game we love.
“That’s why I’m here. I love to compete, but it’s about the social experience as well for me.”
Lang is the VSGA’s manager of media and communications.