Bingham High School senior Tess Blair dominated her opponents in the 112th Women's State Amateur mainly by making a lot of routine pars.
One spectacular par turned the final match permanently in her favor Thursday at Bonneville Golf Course. Blair's chip-in after a taking penalty stroke on the par-3 No. 9 started her run of winning the last five holes, giving her a 6-and-5 victory over Jessica Sloot.
The victory followed the 2014 triumph of Blair's sister, Sirene, then a San Diego State golfer and now a professional. Tess Blair, who's committed to Sacramento State, was the qualifying medalist and never had to play beyond the 16th hole in any of her four matches.
That's impressive, for someone who wondered if she could compete with the college golfers in the field, including Sloot, a Davis High graduate who plays for Colorado State. “I didn't know if I had what it takes to win something like this,” said Blair, wiping her tears as she stood alongside the 13th green.
Blair is one of the youngest champions in the tournament’s history; Terry Norman Hansen also was a rising senior when she won her first title in 1980.
Sloot ended Kelsey Chugg’s bid for a fifth State Am title with a 4-and-3 win in the semifinals earlier Thursday (Blair defeated Xena Motes 3 and 2). Sloot was 1 down to Blair when they came to No. 9, where Blair’s tee shot went into the hazard on the right side and Sloot seemed likely to win the hole and tie the match.
But then Blair holed her pitch shot from about 20 yards short of the green and Sloot ended up bogeying the hole. “In match play, you kind of try to expect everything to go in … [but] it definitely shocked me a little bit,” Sloot said.
“I was really shocked,” Blair said.
Blair then made three pars and a birdie to win four more holes, while putting troubles kept Sloot from extending the match.
So the Blair sisters have two State Am trophies to go with their collective six state high school tournament medalist awards. Tess Blair won the Class 6A championship in May and will try for her third title next spring.
Sirene's influence is “really good for me,” Blair said. “A lot of people I know compare us a lot, and I'm OK with it. But in my mind, I don't think it's a fair fight. She's six years older than me. … I've learned so much from her.”
Blair and Sloot will compete in next week’s Siegfried & Jensen Utah Women’s Open in Provo. Chugg will play in the U.S. Women’s Amateur in Tennessee.
