Taylor Totland Repeats As Women's Amateur Champion

Beating your close friend and teammate in match play is one thing, but beating her in the semifinals and facing another quality opponent 45 minutes later is another.

Those were the challenges facing defending champion and top-seed Taylor Totland of Hollywood in the 93rd NJSGA Women’s Amateur Championship at par-73, 6,469-yard The Bedens Brook Club in Skillman on Thursday, August 6.

“It’s always tough to play Alice; she’s such a good player. I was really nervous about that match. She’s my friend and my teammate and it puts me on edge,” said Totland, 20, a resident of Tinton Falls, who survived the semifinal match against 2013 champion Chen, 3 and 2. “I felt a little relief, but Scotland (Preston) was next, and she’s been playing well and she was awesome today.”

With a hard-fought 3-and-1 victory over Berkeley Heights resident Preston of Echo Lake, the 2011 champion, Totland became the first back-to-back champion since Donna Young of Springdale in 2006 and ’07.

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“Winning two in a row is really cool. My swing coach, Karen Noble, did this three times (1987, ’88 and ’90), and I’m following in her footsteps,” said Totland, the Southern Conference Player of the Year who teams with Chen at Furman University in South Carolina.

Following Noble, then of Morris County Golf Club, anywhere on the golf scene would be ideal. In 1988, she was the runner-up in the U.S. Women’s Amateur. Noble won the 1989 Trans National Championship and in 1990 was a member of the U.S. Curtis Cup and World Cup teams. She then played most of the 1990s on the LPGA Tour and won $250,000 in career earnings.

Tomorrow night, Totland leaves for the U.S. Women’s Amateur at the Portland (Ore.) Golf Club where Chen will join her.

Against Preston, Totland had a hot putter, gaining birdies on the par-4 first and the par-4 eighth and she also won the par-5 third and par-3 sixth to gain a 4-up lead though nine.

Preston won the par-4 10th with a par and added another victory with a par on the par-4 15th hole to close within two holes.

“My wins on the front were all putts inside eight feet. On the front nine, I got off the tee, but on the back I got a little loose and sloppy. I can have a lazy swing. It gets a little frustrating,” Totland said.

Totland finally closed out the match by winning the par-5 17th hole with a par.

“I had a couple of missed opportunities. Taylor is a really great player, one of the best college players in the nation, and it was really great competition,” Preston said. “My game has come a long way. It’s good to see the things I’ve been working on coming together.”

The match against Chen followed a similar path for Totland, who built a 3-up lead through the first six holes with pars on the first, fifth and sixth holes.

Chen finally broke through with a par-victory on No. 11, but Totland got it back with a par victory on No. 13. Chen again cut into the deficit with a birdie on the par-4 No. 14, but Totland immediately responded by winning the par-4 No. 15 with a par. She won on gthe math with a halve on the par-3 No. 16.

“I knew it would come down to whoever made less mistakes, and I struggled with my putts,” Chen said.

“My game’s gotten better. I’m feeling good about it. I’ve seen gradual improvement and I have to thank my coaches at Furman. My tempo against Alice was good from the start,” said Totland, who attended Red Bank Catholic and was a state scholastic champion.

In the other semifinal, Preston defeated 2012 NJSGA Public Links champion Noelle Maertz of Hyatt Hills, 4 and 3.

Preston trailed by two holes after the first three, then won five of the next nine to go up 3 holes. Maertz won No. 13 to reduce it to a two-hole deficit, but Preston won No. 14 with a birdie and No. 15 with a par to close out the match.

“I got off to a bad start, then I got it together. I was happy with my putting, especially from long distance,” said Preston, a senior at Kansas State. “When I missed the fairways, I was able to get the shots where I needed to. To beat Taylor, I’ll need to be consistent and make birdies when it counts.”