A wayward drive out of bounds on the 20th hole ended Kennedy Swedick’s dream run at the 96th Women’s Western Junior at Greenbriar Country Club in Kirkwood, Mo.
Swedick went on to bogey the hole while Lisa Herman of Jenks, Okla., parred to win the match 1-up and earn a spot in the final. Suzie Tran of Poulsbo, Wash., beat Herman 1-up to win the title.
“I played solid golf,” Swedick said. “My driver cost me in the end.”
Swedick was two down through 15 holes, but sank a nine-foot par putt on the 16th to get to 1-down. Her drive on the 17th hole ended up behind a tree, but Swedick shaped a shot around the obstruction to the front of an elevated green and chipped in for birdie to tie the match. Swedick got up and down from behind the green on 18 to save par and extend the match.
She lipped out a curling birdie putt on the 19th hole that would have won her the match.
“This week was very good. It’s not the result I wanted, but I was proud of the way I played.”
Girls from 10 countries and 21 states were in the field of 78 that began play on Tuesday.
Swedick fired rounds of 71 and 72 during stroke play to win medalist honors and the field was cut to 16 for match play. On Thursday, Swedick rallied from three down after 13 holes to win her Round of 16 match over Samantha Brown of Westfield, Ind. In the quarterfinals, Swedick birdied the 18th hole to beat Mingyu Zhang of Beijing.
Swedick is the two-time defending state champion in girls’ golf. She will be a senior at Albany Academy in the fall and has verbally committed to play collegiately for Virginia.
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