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By Ben Walls
HOT SPRINGS–16 senior women and eight super senior women competed for quarterfinal and semifinal match play at the 65th VSGA Senior Women’s Amateur and 4th VSGA Super Senior Women’s Amateur Championships Tuesday.
Including senior Lisa Cox, senior Kay Tyler and super senior Shawn McCullough, the women who advanced overwhelming gave thanks to their short game Tuesday and taking advantage of the match when their competition made mistakes at The Homestead’s Old Course.
“(Ninth seed Pam Reed) still hit the ball as well as I did most of the time, but today it came down to putting,” Cox said. “I chipped pretty well today, so that saved me...It really comes down to that flat stick.”
After losing the first hole, Cox bounced back by chipping in No. 2 while Reed was on the green, and two-putting No. 9 gave her the confidence to ultimately win the match. When asked about her confidence for Wednesday, however, Cox reluctantly smiled and laughed.
“I only have so much confidence because of knowing where my game is,” Cox said. “I’m going to try to pump myself up and take one shot at a time. I just have to play with what I have. That’s all I have to do.
“I just never give up–you can’t.”
Third seed Kay Tyler in the Senior Championship Flight had a similar attitude as Cox, one described as playing “hole by hole.”
Despite going 8 up after nine, Tyler never believed she was controlling her match against Helen Lanes Tuesday, but instead improving her game from Monday’s qualifying stroke play round; she shot 72 Tuesday as opposed to 76 Monday.
“I was really consistent again for the second day,” Tyler said reflecting on what surprised her Tuesday. “I don’t practice much, so my game goes up and down…If I keep it in play–somewhat–I’ll be just fine because I can chip and putt pretty well.”
Unlike Tyler, McCullough dominated her back nine by winning three of her match’s last four against third seed Becki Davis in the Super Senior Championship Flight. She eventually won her match 7 and 5.
“I just played to win the hole,” McCullough said. “I’ve been working real hard on my swing–I work with a swing coach and also a zone coach. I look forward to playing with (Boodie) and it’ll take a strong mental game and a strong physical game to beat her.”
With the proper instruction and experience in the 4th Super Senior Championship, McCullough said she has high expectations for herself in the semifinals Wednesday, saying, “we all know that each day is a different day. I’ll take whatever game I get tomorrow and work hard to get the ball in the hole.”
Brenda Baril, who defeated fourth seed Nevia Cashwell 5 and 4, also said “every day is a different day” and added “I was just hoping the other person would show up today, which it did.
“Nevia was very tough all around, but I stayed consistent and made sure I took care of everything.”
Walls is a P.J. Boatwright intern for the VSGA.