Comments (
Printable Version
Email This
Font
DANBURY -- Mia Landegren was in a bit of a tailspin as she stepped up to the 17th tee at Ridgewood Country Club on Thursday.
Landegren had bogeyed two of the previous three holes and had seen her fairly comfortable four-stroke lead in the 47th Connecticut State Women's Amateur Golf Championship trimmed to two strokes with two holes remaining in the tournament.
She needed to come up with a big, big shot on 17 to regain control.
And she did just that.
The 16-year-old Landegren hit her tee shot onto the green, less than eight feet from the pin on the 162-yard, par-3 17th. She then drained the birdie putt to extend her lead to three strokes -- and give her some much-needed breathing room -- heading to the 18th hole. She parred the 18th to seal her victory.
With her father, Erik, serving as her caddie, Landegren -- a soon-to-be senior at Shepaug Valley High School who hails from Bridgewater -- finished the two-day tournament on her home course with a 36-hole total of 146, which was 2 over par.
Maggie Kennedy of West Hartford, playing out of Rockledge, finished second, three strokes behind. Elizabeth DiVincentis (Shuttle Meadow) took third with a 158. Ellie Dutch (Fox Hopyard) and Linda Lyons (Timberlin) tied for fourth with 160s, with Dutch edging Lyons on a match of cards.
It was a rewarding victory for Landegren, who at last year's women's state amateur held a one-stroke lead on the back nine but ended up finishing third.
"It's my home course, so I had a lot of expectations going into it," Landegren said. "It was nice that it ended like it did."
Landegren had fired an even-par 72 in the first round and entered play Thursday morning with a four-stroke lead. She flirted with disaster several times on the back nine Thursday -- and each time managed to recover with minimal damage.
On the par-4 11th, she blasted out of a bunker, then drained an eight-foot putt to save par. She three-putted for a bogey on the par-4 14th, then parred the 15th.
A beautiful tee shot on the par-5 16th was quickly forgotten when Landegren's second shot bounced off a paved cart path and came to rest behind a stout old oak tree, some 30 feet from the green. Undaunted, however, Landegren somehow recovered for bogey.
rgregory@newstimes.com
