Bingham High School senior Tess Blair rallied with an eagle and a birdie on the last seven holes Tuesday, earning medalist honors in the 112th Women’s State Amateur at Bonneville Golf Course.
Blair, the reigning Class 6A state champion, shot 73-71 for a total of even-par 144. She finished two strokes ahead of Colorado State golfer Jessica Sloot (74-72), a Davis High graduate, in a starting field of 53 players.
Blair will take the No. 1 seed into match play, with two rounds scheduled Wednesday, followed by the semifinal and final matches Thursday. A four-way playoff determined the last three spots in the 16-player bracket, with Whitney Banz, Emma Winfree and Karen Valcarce advancing.
Four-time winner Kelsey Chugg (76-71) finished third, one stroke behind Sloot. Scores were much lower than in the first round Monday, when no golfers broke par and only six players broke 80. In Tuesday’s round, 14-year-old Grace Summerhays shot a 69 and Carly Dehlin posted a 70. Blair and Chugg also broke par and another 18 players were in the 70s.
Sloot held a three-stroke lead after nine holes Tuesday, before Blair eagled the par-5 No. 12 and birdied the par-5 No. 16. Sloot made three bogeys and one birdie on the back nine.
WOMEN’S STATE AMATEUR
Stroke-play qualifying:
144 – Tess Blair (73-71).
146 – Jessica Sloot (74-72).
147 – Kelsey Chugg (76-71).
149 – Kerstin Fotu (74-75), Xena Motes (72-77).
150 -- Grace Summerhays (81-69).
151 – Carly Dehlin (81-70).
154 – Kaylee Shimizu (81-73), Anna Kennedy (80-74).
155 – Annie Yang (81-74).
157 – Poy Prasurtwong (83-74), Carly Savage (80-77).
158 – Anna Lesa (82-76). 159 – Karen Valcarce (83-76), Emma Winfree (81-78), Whitney Banz (81-78).
Failed to qualify:
159 – Abbey Porter (80-79). 160 – Laura Gerner (82-78), Launa Wilson (81-79), Lindsay Wood (80-80).
161 – Bailey Henley (82-79).
162 – Carissa Graff (84-78).
163 – Jobi Einerson (80-83).
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