LE SUEUR, Minn. – Picking up where they left off a year ago, University of St. Thomas teammates Emma Davies and Katie Foley combined to post a 3-under 70 at Le Sueur Country Club Monday to earn a share of the lead at the 2024 Minnesota Golf Association Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship.
Claiming a two-stroke victory at Faribault Golf Club last season, Davies and Foley will enter Tuesday’s final round tied with St. Catherine University golfers Morgan Anderson and Kyra Venne.
“I feel like we left a lot of shots out there today,” Davis said following the opening round Monday. “Katie was throwing darts but had some tough putts. We also bogeyed three of the same holes."
“I missed a lot of putts for birdie, a lot of burning edges out there. A few of those birdies were sliders—can’t do much from those,” Foley said. “If I can get a good pace tomorrow and do the same thing, we should be good. I learned a lot about the greens and it should be a better mindset going into it tomorrow.”
Playing their opening nine in 1-under Monday, Davies and Foley quickly climbed the leaderboard when Foley’s reached the par-5 ninth in two, sinking her eagle putt from six feet to move her and Davies to 3-under for the championship.
Giving a stroke back with bogey at the 10th, Foley stepped up once again by sticking her approach at the 11th inside of three feet for a tap-in birdie.
The Tommie twosome carded a second bogey of the round at the 13th, but would finish the day in a share of first following Davies’ birdie from six feet at the 14th, carding a 3-under 70 to begin the championship.
“We know how to boost each other’s confidence levels to hit good shots,” Foley said. “We lived together and know each other very well, so the vibe and energy level is always high between us.”
“We had a lot of birdie putts, and even though we missed them, we’ll take a par. We didn’t get down and moved on,” Davies said.
Davies and Foley opened the championship with a 6-under 66 during their opening round last season, and would hang on for a two-stroke victory over fellow Tommies Isabelle Lynch and Courtney Wedin with a final-round 74.
An early birdie at the first for Anderson and Venne was erased by a bogey at the second as the two would remain even over the next seven holes.
Venne’s tee shot at the par-3 10th stopped six feet from the cup and she’d bury her birdie chance to put her team back into red figures for the round.
Anderson wedged her approach inside of four feet at the par-5 12th, rolling in her first birdie of the afternoon to push the twosome to 2-under.
Chipping to 10 feet at the par-5 16th, Venne sank one final birdie putt to put her and Anderson into Tuesday’s final round with a share of the lead at 3-under 70.
“Good shots or bad shots we kept smiling—whether we in the trees or in the fairway, we found a way out,” Venne said. “There are a couple par-3s we could play differently, because of how the ball is going to fly with the elevated greens.”
“Tomorrow, I think I need to play safer off the tee,” Anderson said. “I still want to be safe and help [Venne], even if I can’t go for it. If I hit a bad shot, I know I could’ve hit a different club and been perfectly fine.”
Another pair of Tommie teammates Isabelle Lynch and Nicole Reineke carded a late bogey to finish Monday’s opening round in lone possession of third place at 2-under 71.
The final round of the 2024 MGA Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship begins at 7 a.m. Tuesday at Le Sueur Country Club.
Contact Us
Have a question about the Minnesota Golf Association, your MGA membership or the contents of this website? Let us help.
