Burnham Takes Third at Canadian Women's Amateur Championship; Kuenster Finishes 59th

  SASKATOON, Saskatchewan – With a final-round 2-under par 70 Friday, Minnesotan Sarah Burnham finished in a tie for third place at 1-under par 287 at the 2015 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship.

Burnham, Maple Grove, Minn., opened the championship Wednesday with a 4-over par 76, but immediately put herself in contention with a 3-under par 69 during the second round.

After carding an even par 72 during the third round Thursday, Burnham entered Friday’s final round in a tie for eighth place.

The soon-to-be sophomore at Michigan State University bogeyed her first hole Friday but answered with a birdie at the second and added another at the par-4 fourth hole.

After rolling in her birdie look at the ninth, Burnham would head to the back nine at 2-under for the round.

Burnham began the final nine holes with a bogey at the 10th and would fall back to even for the round with another bogey at the 15th.

She rebounded with back-to-back birdies at the 16th and 17th holes and would card a 70 to finish at 1-under par 287, tied for third.

Minnesota Gopher Celia Kuenster battled back after an opening round 8-over par 80 by shooting 78 during the second round before finishing the championship with back-to-back rounds of 5-over par 77 to tie for 59th place at 312.

Teeing off on the 10th hole during the final round Friday, Kuenster stumbled early with a bogey on the opening hole before making bogey again at the par-5 16th.

Kuenster, who will begin her sophomore season this fall, would answer with a birdie at the 17th but finished her front nine at 3-over for the day after a double-bogey at the 18th.

A birdie at the par-5 second hole put Kuenster back to 2-over for the round but she would finish the day with three bogeys over the final six holes, carding a 77 to finish tied for 59th at 312.

Hawaii native Mariel Galdiano earned medalist honors Friday at 5-under par 283 after firing a final-round 69 to defeat Californian Bethany Wu by a single stroke.

With the victory, Galdiano now earns an exemption to the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open as well as the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship.

Burnham already qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship earlier in the month, shooting a 3-over par 75 at the sectional qualifier at White Bear Yacht Club.



2015 CANADIAN WOMEN’S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP
RIVERSIDE COUNTRY CLUB
SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN
6,425 YARDS, PAR 72


FINAL RESULTS
1. Mariel Galdiano, Pearl City, Hawaii, 69-75-70-69—283
2. Bethany Wu, Diamond Bar, Calif., 73-72-69-70—284
T3. SARAH BURNHAM, MAPLE GROVE, MINN., 76-69-72-70—287
T3. Lauren Greenlief, Reston, Va., 75-72-69-71—287
T3. Lucia Gutierrez, Peru, 75-68-71-73—287
T6. Maddie Szeryk, Ontario, Canada, 75-75-70-68—288
T6. Dylan Kim, Plano, Texas, 73-76-70-69—288
T6. Cindy Ha, Demarest, N.J., 77-70-69-72—288
T9. Allisen Corpuz, Honolulu, Hawaii, 75-72-71-71—289
T9. Lakareber Abe, Angleton, Texas, 76-67-73-73—289
T9. Maria Tomes, Puerto Rico, 76-72-69-72—289

T59. CELIA KUENSTER, MENDOTA HEIGHTS, MINN., 80-78-77-77—312


For complete tournament results go to: https://golfcanada.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/rcga15/event/rcga1515/contest/6/leaderboard.htm