Kelsey Chugg has an opportunity to become the first Utah resident to win more than one United States Golf Association championship, and she can do it in consecutive years.
As the defending champion of the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, the Salt Lake City resident has reached the final match at Norwood Hills Country Club in St. Louis.
Chugg, 27, will have to earn her second title, that's for sure. Her opponent is stroke-play medalist Shannon Johnson, the 2016 runner-up. Johnson has had to play only 13 holes in three of her five matches this week, winning 7 and 5 in the semifinals.
Chugg showed signs of dominating her semifinal opponent, but ended up having to fight off a rally. She beat Meghan Stasi of Florida 3 and 2 in the morning, then defeated Gretchen Johnson of Oregon 2 and 1 in the afternoon.
After going 5 up through 11 holes, Chugg lost three of the next four holes, due to Johnson's birdies. The players halved the next two holes and Chugg advanced in the tournament for golfers 25 and older.
“Just maybe I’m able to control my nerves a little bit more now than I was last year at this time,” Chugg said, “and that’s due to playing in some of the bigger events and being in this situation before.”
The former Weber State golfer and current Utah Golf Association staff member is a four-time Women's State Amateur champion, although she lost in this year's semifinals.
Chugg's toughest match in St. Louis came in Tuesday's round of 16, as she outlasted 2016 champion Julia Potter-Bobb of Indiana in 19 holes. Chugg birdied No. 18 to force extra holes in what she described as “a really intense match, one of the most intense I've ever played.”
Chugg is the No. 11 seed, having shot 75-75 in the stroke-play portion of the tournament. Last year, in an event that was postponed to November and moved from Florida to Texas because of weather issues, Chugg never had to play the 18th hole in any of her six matches.
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