Alice Chen Medalist At 88th Women's Amateur At Brooklake C.C.

Alice Chen of Neshanic Valley turned in her second consecutive round of 2-over-par 74 and earned medalist honors after 36-holes of qualifying by two strokes at the 88thNJSGA Women’s Amateur Championship on Tuesday, July 30, at the Brooklake Country Club in Florham Park.

Chen (74-74-148), the 2013 Junior Girls champion for the second year in a row, bested former LPGA professional Tara Fleming of New Jersey National, (76-74-150). Cindy Ha of Valley Brook (78-74-152) was third and Isabel Han of Montammy (75-79-154) fourth.

Hana Ku of Fiddler’s Elbow (83-73-156), whose 73 Tuesday was the best round of qualifying, was fifth. Sixth place went to defending champion Alexandra Hershberger of Neshanic Valley (82-79-161), followed by Sarah Kokotajlo of Mountain View (81-81-162) and 2011 champion Scotland Preston of Echo Lake (80-83-163).

The top eight play match-play in the Championship Flight beginning with quarterfinals on Wednesday morning. The winners advance to the semifinals on Wednesday afternoon. A 36-hole final takes place on Thursday.

MATCH-PLAY BRACKETS AND STARTING TIMES; RESULTS PHOTO GALLERY

Players finishing in the next eight places will compete in the First Flight; and players finishing 17-24 in the Second Flight. The flight finals will consist of 18 holes on Thursday instead of 36.

“I’ve played pretty consistently the last two days,” said Chen, 17, a senior at Montgomery High School who lives in Princeton. “The course was wet on Monday, so I was able to play aggressively and stick shots close. Today, it played differently and some of the pin positions were a little more difficult. The course was set up nicely. There were some long par-4 holes for the long hitters and some shorter par-4s that rewarded accuracy.”

Chen last week advanced to the match-play portion of the USGA Girls Junior at Sycamore Hills Golf Club in Fort Wayne, Ind. She will compete in the Big "I" National Championship at Pinehurst, August 5 -8.

She won the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association girls championship this spring.

Fleming, 46, who grew up in Texas, played on the LPGA from 1991 through ‘93 and again in 1996. She had her amateur status reinstated in 1999 and currently lives in Jersey City. She is a sales executive in the energy industry. Last summer, she reached the Round of 16 in the U.S. Mid-Amateur.

“After 10 years away from the tour, I missed the competition,” she said. “The last five years, I really felt something was missing from my life. It’s nice to come back and play well and know I have another gear.”

Cindy Ha is a three-time New Jersey scholastic all-state player for Demarest High School and this year was a quarterfinalist in the U.S. Public Links Championship.

“I did a lot f scrambling today. My short game and my putting picked me up,” Ha said.