Pennsylvania, Maryland Duos Advance To U.S. Four-ball Championship
Two-person teams of young golfers from Pennsylvania and Maryland claimed berths into next spring’s 2nd U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship, May 21-25, at Streamsong Resort in Florida.
Pennsylvanians Kate Evanko and Samantha Staudt and Marylanders Delaney Shah and Aneka Seumanutafa each teamed for rounds of two-under-par 70 to share medalist honors at the U.S. Four-Ball Sectional Qualifying, conducted by the NJSGA, on Wednesday, Sept. 30, at Greenacres Country Club in Lawrenceville.
Princeton University teammates Hana Ku of Basking Ridge and Jordan Lippetz of Oakland, Calif., shot one-under 71 to garner the first alternate spot. Monmouth University teammates Rebecca Gaona of Howell and Faith Garcia of Stamford, Conn. were second alternates after shooting 73.
Although Staudt and Evanko attend different high schools, they do share the same coach in Eric MacCluen of Applecross, Pa.
Staudt, 17, is a senior at Coatesville High School in her hometown and has committed to golf at Seton Hall University. Evanko, 18, who lives in West Chester, is a senior at Unionville High School in Kennett Square, but has yet to make a college commitment.
The two have been competing against each other since the fifth grade, starting with the U.S. Kids program and beyond.
Staudt gained a measure of fame, making ESPN The Magazine after notching two holes-in-one in the same nine at Inniscrone Golf Club in Avondale, Pa., on Sept. 23, 2014. That was shortly after she had annexed the Pennsylvania Junior Championship.
Evanko was third in the Pennsylvania State Juniors this year and 11thin the state high school finals. She was in a playoff for second alternate at the U.S. Amateur qualifier conducted by the NJSGA this summer at Mendham Golf Club.
On Wednesday, Staudt accounted for both birdies, chipping in 30 feet from the right rough on the par-4 sixth hole, and then sticking an 8-iron from 135 yards to five feet on the par-4 No. 18.
“We had a hard time dropping birdie putts. When you’re playing with a partner, it’s a different mindset,” Evanko said. “It feels awesome to be playing in my first USGA championship.”
“The course played longer because of the wet conditions. We couldn’t get any roll. It was more like 6,400 yards than the 6,150 we were playing,” Staudt noted.
Shah, of North Potomac, Md., and Seumanutafa, of Frederick, Md., were teammates representing Maryland in the recent U.S. Women’s State Team Championships, leading Maryland to 19th place in the event.
Shah, 17, is a senior at Wooten High School in Rockville and last year won the 15-17 division of the Maryland State Championships. Seumanutafa, 14, was the overall runner-up in that event. She attends St. John’s Catholic Prep in Frederick, where she is a freshman.
Two years ago, Seumanutafa was the youngest player in the U.S. State Team Championship at 12, representing Hawaii. Her family moved to Maryland when her mother, Poni, began working for the federal government. She was also the youngest to make match-play at the U.S. Women’s Amateur this summer. She turns 15 on Oct. 28.
After starting with a bogey on the No. 10 hole, the Maryland team rallied with three birdies, all by Shah. She birdied two par fives and the par-4 eighth hole, each time wedging close to the hole.
“We both like playing in the rain. The course played long because there was no roll. Both we both iht it pretty far,” Shah said. “We ham-and-egged it pretty good.”
The 14-year-old Seumanutafa heard that expression for the first time in her life, and certainly not her last. One of her career highlights thus far was having lunch with another women named Aneka, make it, Annika Sorenstam.
Ku, who attended Ridge High School and is now a junior at Princeton, is a two-time second team Ivy League player. Princeton hosts its 15-team women’s invitational this weekend at Springdale in Princeton.
“This is well-defined course. It tests your course management skills and rewards accuracy,” noted Ku who has played in two U.S. Junior Girls, one U.S. Public Links and one U.S. Amateur championships.
Gaona served as NJSGA intern this summer, adding an element of social media, particularly Instagram. Gaona and Garcia teamed for three birdies.
