OREGON AMATEUR: Bruins’ Mann and Morrison Win First Rounds in OA Match Play
TUALATIN, Ore. – Abby Mann saved a winning par score with a sensational shot out of the bunker on the 18th hole while Kelsey Morrison secured a win after 12 holes, giving George Fox University two winners in the first round of match play at the 103rd Oregon Amateur Women’s Golf Championship Wednesday here at the Tualatin Country Club.
Mann, a junior from Medford, Ore., never led Juhee Lee, a junior at Wilsonville, Ore., High School, until the final hole. Lee went 1-up on the first hole, 2-up on the third hole, and remained in front until Mann tied her on the ninth hole. Lee held 1-up leads on four of the next six holes before Mann again tied in on the 16th.
Both players earned pars on the par-4 17th hole, leaving the match all square entering the 18th. Mann went into a bunker on her second shot, but her next shot from 30 yards away stopped about two feet from the pin, leaving her with an easy par-4 while Lee took a bogey-5, allowing Mann to advance.
Morrison, a junior from Yucca Valley, Calif., and an NCAA Division III First Team All-American this past season, won the first hole against Johnna Nealy of Grants Pass, Ore., a former University of Oregon golfer, and never trailed. After Nealy knotted the score with a win on the second hole, Morrison won the next three holes, went 4-up on the eighth, 5-up on the 9th, 6-up on the 11th, then cemented the win as the players halved the 12th hole.
The Bruins’ third player in the tournament, freshman Whitney Jammerman of Snohomish, Wash., was matched against Kendall Prince of Corvallis, Ore., the Big Ten Conference’s Freshman of the Year at Ohio State University. Jammerman won the opening hole before Prince took the next three. The score stayed close until Prince pulled away by winning holes nine through 12, and a split on the 13th hole enabled her to clinch the win.
In Thursday’s round-of-16 match play, Mann will go against Prince at 10:20 a.m., while Morrison will meet Brittany Tallman of Issaquah, Wash., a junior at the University of Washington and a two-time 3A high school state champion, at 10:44 a.m.
Fans who wish to follow the George Fox women on line in the Oregon Amateur Championship can find information about the tournament, with pairings and results, at the Oregon Golf Association’s web site at http://www.ghintpp.com/oregonga/tpponlinegolfer/Default.aspx?SeasonID=14, or at the official tournament web site http://oregonamateur.org/.