Neisen Leads Women's State Amateur by Four After a 69 at Interlachen

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By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org


  EDINA, Minn. – Carding five birdies during her final nine holes Monday, Kenzie Neisen fired an opening-round 4-under par 69 to open the 2015 Minnesota Women’s State Amateur Championship at Interlachen Country Club with a four-stroke lead over the field.

Katherine Smith will begin the second round Tuesday in second place after carding an even par 73, while Anni Heck and defending champion, Cassie Deeg, finished the opening round tied for third at 3-over par 76.

“I really like this golf course and I was really excited because the [Women’s State Amateur] is one of my favorite tournaments,” Neisen said after the opening round Monday. “[The tournament] is really more to have fun and enjoy this great golf course.”

Neisen, who will compete at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship in two weeks, carded one bogey with eight pars on her front nine as she teed off on the the tenth tee, making the turn at 1-over par.

Neisen would catch fire on an already hot and steamy day at Interlachen Country Club rolling in back-to-back birdies on the second and third holes to quickly get to 1-under for the championship.

Her third birdie of the round at the par-4 sixth hole would put Neisen at 2-under before she rolled in another at the eighth to get to 3-under.

Reaching the par-5 ninth hole in two, Neisen narrowly missed her eagle putt and rolled in a four-foot birdie to card a 69.

“I didn’t really have many putts dropping [on her front nine] and I think my round really started on the 18th. I had to punch out and was able to get up-and-down,” Neisen said.

“I started hitting my approaches better on the back and my putting definitely felt more comfortable.”

Smith, a four-time Class AA state champion, began her day on the tenth tee and would quickly fall to 3-over par, carding three bogeys over her first six holes Monday.

Smith would get back on track with a birdie at No. 18 to turn at 2-under before rolling in a pair of long birdie putts at the fourth and fifth holes to shoot even par 73, four shots off the lead in second place.

“The front was really frustrating. On the first and second hole I had five-footers for birdie and missed both of those. I probably had four or five birdie putts throughout the day that I missed,” Smith said Monday. “Two 20-foot birdie putts in a row obviously turned something around on the back and then I made a couple less mistakes.”

“I’m excited for the next two days; hopefully I can make some putts and go lower.”

Deeg, who cruised to a five-stroke victory last year at Forest Hills Golf Club, opened Monday’s round with three bogeys and two birdies on the front nine to turn at 1-over before back-to-back bogeys pushed Deeg to 3-over for the championship.

Rebounding with a birdie at the par-4 16th, Deeg would finish her round at 3-over par 76 after a bogey at the 17th.

“I’ve never played here so I was kind of going in a little blind,” Deeg said following her round Monday. “I hit the ball okay, not great. I putted well—I felt really comfortable on these greens.

“I don’t feel like I left anything out there. I had a couple of bad tee shots so if I get off the tee a little bit better and hit my irons and wedges a little better, I think I can continue to play well.”

Heck, Southview Country Club, came out firing Monday with early birdies at the second and third holes to quickly dip into red numbers before adding her third birdie of the front nine at the seventh.

After a double-bogey at the eighth hole, Heck would turn at 1-under before rolling in another birdie at the par-5 11th.

Heck would run into trouble late as she played the final five holes at 5-over with three bogeys and a double to finish the opening round tied for third at 3-over par 76, seven shots off the lead.

Heck qualified for the 40th Junior PGA Championship after carding an even par 144 to earn medalist honors at the 2015 Minnesota Section PGA Championship July 16 at Giant’s Ridge Golf and Ski Resort in Biwabik, Minn.

The 2015 Junior PGA Championship will be played August 3-6 at Miramont Country Club in Bryan, Texas.

The second round of the 2015 Minnesota Women's State Amateur Championship gets underway Tuesday with tee times beginning at 7:30 a.m. at Interlachen Country Club.