Samantha Schuffenecker of Country Club of Troy fired an even-par 72 and stormed to a four-stroke win Tuesday in the state Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Corning Country Club.
Schuffenecker, 33, started the day in second place behind defending champion Christy Schultz of Oak Hill, who posted a 4-over 76 in the first round Monday. Schuffenecker, Carolyn Mancini of Binghamton and Kim Kaul of East Aurora all were tied for second Monday at six-over.
Schuffenecker finished six-over 78-72 (150) for medalist honors with Mancini 78-76 (154), Schultz 76-78 (154) and Teresa Cleland of Bellevue 79-75 (154) finishing in a tie for second at 10-over.
It was Schuffenecker’s first win in a major 36-hole competition.
“This week I feel like I played my normal everyday game and was able to get it done,” she said. “I’ve been feeling confident about my game for the last two or three years. It’s been mostly a tournament issue, but I’ve had a lot of tournament experiences over the past two years and some on the national level that have helped me get used to tournament golf again.”
Her brother from Houston, Texas, was in New York and traveled to Corning to caddie for her on the first day. He helped her turn around a string of bogies Monday, but she was her own caddie on Tuesday, she said while driving back to Troy while her phone filled with congratulatory texts.
“I did look at the leaderboard around the 15th hole to see how I was doing. My one goal today was just to play aggressive on every single shot, that didn’t necessarily mean I was taking driver out the whole time but that I was making aggressive swings on every shot,” she said.
“I loved the course, I thought it was a great test. Honesty I feel like I played just as well on both days. I hit the ball great on both days. The first round I just had a couple of unlucky breaks, that’s why my score was a…
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