Totland, Bernstein Lead In Women's Amateur, Mid-amateur
Taylor Totland of Hollywood, winner of the past two NJSGA Women's Amateur championship, took the top spot with a three-under-par 69 after the first day of 36-hole stroke-lay qualifying at the 91st Women's Amateur at the 5,855-yard Upper Montclair Country Club in Clifton on Monday, July 25.
Just one stroke behind is her teammate at Furman University, Alice Chen of Neshanic Valley, who won in 2014.Yeji Shin of Valley Brook, who won the 2016 Public Links championship, is third at 73.
The third NJSGA Mid-Amateur Championship is being conducted concurrently with Helen Bernstein of WGA of N.J.leading by eight strokes with a 74 over defending champion Tara Fleming of New Jersey National, who shot 82.
The Women’s Mid-Amateur, for golfers ages 30 and above, is contested as 36 holes of stroke-play.Bernstein and Sherry Herman of Colts Neck won this year's NJSGa Four-Ball Championship.
Totland, 20, a resident of Tinton Falls and golfer at Furman University, won in 2015 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.
The only woman to win three titles in a row was Sherry Herman, who won four straight in 1995-98. Herman won the U.S. Women’s Senior Amateur in 2009.
After tTesday's second round of stroke-play, the top 16 from stroke-play enter into two days of match-play with the semifinals and final set for Thursday.
WOMEN'S AMATEUR, MID-AMATEUR PREVIEW ARTICLE:
Two-time and defending champion and top-seed Taylor Totland of Hollywood seeks to become only the second to ever win three straight titles when she tees it up in the 91st NJSGA Women’s Amateur Championship at par 72, 5,857-yard Upper Montclair Country Club in Clifton, Monday-Thursday, July 25-28.
Totland, 20, a resident of Tinton Falls and golfer at Furman University, won in 2015 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.
The only woman to win three titles in a row was Sherry Herman of Colts Neck, who won four straight in 1995-98. Herman won the U.S. Women’s Senior Amateur in 2009.
Besides the Women’s Amateur Championship, the third NJSGA Women’s Mid-Amateur, for golfers ages 30 and above, will run concurrently with the Amateur Championship and be contested as 36 holes of stroke-play.
In 2015, Tara Fleming of New Jersey National became Mid-Amateur champion and seeks to repeat in 2016.
The Top 16 from the stroke-play portion (Amateurs and Mid-Amateurs) return for match-play on July 27-28.
The field of 44 includes former champion Alice Chen of Neshanic Valley, current Public Links champion Yeji Shin of Valley Brook and former Public Links champions Chen (2014-15), Samantha Perrotta of Old York and Noelle Maertz of Hyatt Hills.
“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.
In 1988, Noble 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.
The evening she won her second Women’s Amateur title, Totland left for the U.S. Women’s Amateur at the Portland (Ore.) Golf Club where Chen joined her. This spring, Totland was named an honorable mention All-American, and Furman's Female Athlete of the Year.
Fleming never saw the 6,152-yard layout at Bedens Brook until the first round of the event, but over the course of two days made herself right at home.
Fleming carded rounds of 77 and 78 for a total of 5-over-par 155 and won the Second NJSGA Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship by 10 shots over Alicia Kapheim of Hopewell Valley (82-83-165) and Katie Renoff of Trump National-Bedminster (85-80-165) at Bedens Brook.
The Women’s Mid-Amateur, for golfers ages 30 and above, ran concurrently to the two days of qualifying for the State Women’s Amateur. Fleming’s 155 garnered her the No. 4 seed in the Women’s Amateur match-play.
“To be the second Mid-Amateur champion in New Jersey, especially following my close friend, Fran Gacos, is wonderful. I think it’s great that New Jersey has a Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, and I’m proud to be the champion,” Fleming said.
