A 45-foot Birdie Putt Gives Miller and White the MGA Women's Senior Four-Ball Crown

View full size image

 
  OWATONNA, Minn. – A birdie from 45 feet on the first hole of a four-way playoff Tuesday at Owatonna Country Club earned Barb Miller and teammate Cathy White a victory at the 2023 Minnesota Golf Association Women’s Senior Amateur Four-Ball Championship.

Miller and White carded a final-round 73 to finish tied atop the leaderboard with defending champions Christine Dean and Adele Peterson, first-round leaders Lynn Anderson and Leigh Klasse and the team of Betsy Aldrich and Andrea Luther before Miller closed out the tournament in spectacular fashion on the first extra hole.

“Each one is special, but it’s always fun to win with somebody different,” Miller said after winning her third title in five seasons with a third different partner. “We hung in there and didn’t give up.”

“This win means a lot because I’ve been through a lot of life changes lately,” said White, who lost her husband in October. “I didn’t get a chance to play a lot of golf last year, so this means the world.”

Miller and White began Tuesday’s final round five shots off the lead and, admittedly, were playing for second.

“I told Barb that I wanted to finish second—let’s go out and hold our position,” White said following the final round Tuesday. “I made a birdie on the front side and on the back, Barb just came through.”

“I was starting to hit my target and putts were getting to be more tap-ins instead of four or 5-footers,” said Miller.

White started the scoring during the final round at the second, despite Miller being out of the hole, by sinking her birdie chance from inside of three feet to move into red figures for the championship.

But it was a three-putt bogey at the par-3 seventh that turned a promising start to the final round, upside down. The two would also make bogey at the par-3 ninth to fall three shots off the lead at 1-over for the tournament.

“We lost the box. After that we were kind of deflated,” Miller said of the twosome’s first bogey of the round.

“I thought that was it,” replied White.

Finding their footing during the final nine holes, Miller and White went bogey-free and moved into contention when Miller’s birdie putt from four feet fell at the 14th.

“We were both hitting greens for once and we weren’t putting pressure on anyone—a little more stress-free. That was the key,” White said.

The two would card consecutive pars to finish in a tie at 146.

From the deep rough left of the first fairway during the playoff, Miller’s ball trickled over the front edge of the elevated green and stopped 45 feet away from the hole.

“My father was a spectacular golfer and he was known for his putting. All day long I was channeling my father,” Miller said. “Just before I hit the putt, I took a deep breath and said, ‘Come on, dad,’ and that was it.”

Miller claimed the 2019 championship with Klasse at Burl Oaks Golf Club and won again the following season with Aldrich.

Tuesday’s win for White is her first state victory. Remarkably, White has never finished outside the top-10 in 11 senior events since 2014.

Her previous best came at the MGA Women’s Senior Amateur Match Play Championship in 2021, advancing to the semifinals at Monticello Country Club.

Knocking her tee shot off the pin on the final hole Tuesday led to a birdie on the final hole for Aldrich to put her and Luther into the clubhouse with a share of the lead at 146 after carding one of two rounds below par with a 72.

The two began the final round six shots out of the lead, and overcame a rocky front nine by carding four birdies over their final nine holes to make a late run.

Posting the final round’s other score below par Tuesday, Dean and Peterson quickly cut into Anderson and Klasse’s lead by sinking three birdies over their first eight holes to turn in 1-under for the championship.

The two carded the first of two final-round bogeys at the par-3 11th to drop back to even par for the tournament, but Dean answered by converting her birdie chance at the par-3 13th.

A second bogey of the round came at the par-4 17th to drop Dean and Peterson to even par and into a four-way tie for the lead.

The two would make par during the playoff to finish in second after posting 75-71—146.

Dean and Peterson posted a 3-under 69 during the final round of the championship a year ago to earn a two-stroke victory over Anderson and Klasse at Whitefish Golf Club.

A string of three straight bogeys during their final nine proved fatal for four-time champs Anderson and Klasse, stumbling down the stretch to squander a five-stroke lead entering the final round Tuesday.

Anderson’s birdie chance on the final hole stopped short of the cup, while Klasse’s birdie chance in the playoff slid left of the hole.

Anderson and Klasse carded rounds of 68-78, respectively, to finish tied for second.

Lisa Lawry and partner Trish Olsen entered Tuesday’s final round with a four-stroke lead and edged the team of Lili McMillan and Mary Flynn by one stroke following a final-round 81 to claim medalist honors in the First Flight.

Posting an 8-over 81 for the second consecutive round Tuesday, the pairing of Ann Leahy and Sue Sajevic claimed the Second Flight following a scorecard playoff with the team of Barb Johnson and Lee Ann Townsend.

A final-round 10-over 83 Tuesday helped the twosome of Elaine Barr and Nancy Gangelhoff to a six-stroke victory in the Third Flight, finishing the 36-hole championship at 23-over 169.

Opening the championship with a 14-over 87 Monday, the team of Kerrin Olufson and Dana Rasmussen posted an 86 during Tuesday’s final round to notch a four-stroke victory in the Fourth Flight.

A final-round 89 lifted the pairing of Deb Halsne and Leann Lundgren to a one-stroke victory in the Fifth Flight over the twosome of Denise Fitch and Shawna Johnson, shooting 31-over 177.

Jeanne Marquardt and Sally Olsen jumped out to a five-stroke lead in the Sixth Flight Monday, and earned medalist honors by the same margin following a final-round 92 Tuesday.