New Jersey Wins USGA Women's State Team Championship

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With Alice Chen of Neshanic Valley tying for the individual title, the New Jersey State Team, sponsored by the New Jersey State Golf Association, won its first-ever championship at the 10th USGA State Team Championship at the NCR Country Club’s par-73, 6,153-yard South Course in Kettering, Ohio on Thursday, September 19.

Chen, 17, on Wednesday fired a 6-under-par 67 that tied the lowest score (with three others) in the history of the event, and combined with New Jersey National’s Tara Fleming’s 79, moved New Jersey from seventh place to a tie for first with Florida going into Thursday’s final round.

Chen, a resident of Princeton who is a senior at Montgomery High School, then added a one-over-par 74 on Thursday and combined with a two-over par 75 for Cinda Ha of Valley Brook, another 17-year-old, to give New Jersey a three-day total of 446, which was three strokes better than runner-up Florida’s 449.

Chen tied with Bryana Nguyen, 17, of Maryland for low individual honors with scores of 72-67-74 for a 213 total.

Ha, a resident of Demarest, delivered scores of 79-81-75 for 235 and Fleming added rounds of 85-79-82 for 246. The top two scores each day of each team’s three players counted towards the team scoring.

The Women’s State Team Championship is conducted every other year, in odd-numbered years, alternating with the men’s championship. Two years ago, Ha was a member of the New Jersey team that placed seventh behind champion Georgia.

New Jersey had never before won a men’s or women’s national championship.

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“At the awards reception, I stated that New Jersey is the home of the USGA, and we are proud to be bringing home the trophy to New Jersey,” said Fleming, 46, a reinstated amateur who was also a former LPGA Tour Player.The championship trophy is named the Judy Bell Trophy.

“Other than playing four years at the University of New Mexico, I never had the experience of playing in amateur events. This is something I never dreamed would happen to me. I can’t tell you what it means to me to win a USGA championship,” said Fleming, who lives in Jersey City.

Chen, who has committed to play at Furman University next fall, has enjoyed a brilliant summer of golf. She won the New Jersey high school individual championship and earned player of the year honors. Chen then won the New Jersey State Golf Association’s Women’s Amateur and Junior Girls’ Championships, and tacked on a victory at the American Junior Golf Association’s Lessing’s AJGA Classic, also conducted in the Garden State.

“We never felt pressure. We knew we were tied with Florida going into the final round, but we never talked about it,” Chen said. “Last night, we went out to the best steakhouse in town and then we went to the best ice cream place and had Buckeye Blitz, with big chunks of chocolate, and raspberry Chip.

“We really bonded together as a team. I scrambled a lot today. Through the entire week, it was just about hitting greens and getting birdies and eagles if possible,” Chen continued. “I really do feel blessed about everything that’s happened to me this summer.

“Things happen for a reason. Winning a USGA Championship is a big fat dollop on the cake,” she said, when asked if it was the icing on the cake.

Chen did, indeed, record an eagle. It happened during Wednesday’s round of 67, when she sank a 50-foot putt on the par-5 16th hole. On Thursday, she recorded three birdies and four bogeys.

The play of Ha on Thursday was vital to the team championship. After shooting a 41 on the front nine, the Vanderbilt commit turned things around with a 34 on the back nine. The highlight came on the par-3 15th hole, when she holed out from a bunker. She cemented the New Jersey victory with a following birdie on the 16thhole and two pars to close out the round.

“The hole-out on 15 gave me momentum and I birdied the next hole,” said Ha. “I feel as a team we were a lot closer than we were two years ago. This time we bonded. We had dinner together, we practiced together. We spent time together. Tara couldn’t have been a better captain.

“The course was really challenging. The greens were the hardest part for me. On the back nine toda,y I really put things together,” Ha added.

Fleming was second in qualifying for the State Women’s Amateur and advanced to the match-play semifinals before losing to finalist Alexandra Hershberger of Neshanic Valley. Fleming is the captain of the three-person New Jersey squad and recently qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur.

Ha was third in qualifying for the same event and lost in the Round of 16 to Hershberger, who lost in the Amateur final to Chen, 6 and 4.

“We went out here to have fun. We pumped each other up with little distractions,” Fleming said. “These girls may be young, but they really know the game. I think people underestimate their maturity. They really played well.”

“The Women's New Jersey State Golf Committee joined the New Jersey State Golf Association in 2008. The NJSGA supported our winning State Team in every way,” said NJSGA team advisor Coleen Luker. “My hope is that the attention this championship brings will help our continuing effort to be recognized as an organization for men and women alike.”