Lake Oswego, Ore. (July 1, 2009) -- For most divisions, those that advanced during the second second day of match play at the Oregon Junior Amateur were expected to win today's matches at Oswego Lake Country Club.
But in the Girls (15-17) Division, there were numerous surprises. The first was the elimination of Amy Beth Simanton of Lake Oswego, Ore. by Morgan Thompson of Tualatin, Ore. Thompson won the Intermediate Girls (12-14) Division title at last year's Junior Amateur.
Coming off a victory at the Oregon Women's Amateur last week at Bandon Dunes as well as qualifying recently for the U.S. Girls Junior Amateur, Simanton certainly had the momentum going her way. But her recent experiences coupled with expectations playing her home course most likely added too much pressure to easily overcome.
Former Oregon Amateur Champion and Oswego Lake member Kent Myers once commented, "match play is more like a chess match. If you make it to the match play portion of a championship you deserve to be there. Anyone can win."
Unlike stoke play where the object is to play the course in fewer strokes than your competitor, match play is different. There are ebbs and flows to a match and momentum can either go in your favor or against you. "I'm really disappointed," said Simanton who was hoping to be the the third women in Oregon golf history to win both the Oregon Amateur and Oregon Junior Amateur in the same year (Carole Jo Kabler, 1955 and Mary Budke, 1971). "I'll get over it," she concluded.
The "chess match" Myers alluded to was evident in between defending
Girls champion Seshia-Lei Telles of Tualatin, Ore and Aaren Ziegler of
Canby, Ore. The match went the distance with Telles winning on the 19th
Hole.Telles was down in the match all day. "The match I was most concerned about the most was that against Aaren," said Telles. "She is the most consistent player of everyone out here." Telles added that her apprehension affected her approach to her round.
"I was playing conservatively," said Telles. It's so tight here, and she [Ziegler] was making everything. I just wasn't aggressive from the start."
In fact, she was 3-down at the turn before she made the decision to be more aggressive and attack the course. She started gaining some momentum by winning the 10th and 12th holes, but Ziegler was still dormie 2 (2-up with 2 holes left to play).
"I said to myself, all you have to do is par," said Ziegler. But in this game of chess, that may have been her downfall. She started playing conservatively. "I got too conservative and left a chip shot short on 17, then lipped out the putt," she added. "I was getting really nervous."
She lipped out another putt on 18 and the match was all-square. In fact, the only time Telles was on top was in the end. Tomorrow, Telles squares off against Sharon Shin, the OSAA 6A High School Girls champion.
Established in 1927 by the Oregon Golf Association, the Oregon Junior Amateur Championship is one of the oldest and most prestigious event amateur sporting competitions in the state. . The Oregon Junior Amateur is held only at the finest golf courses and historically showcases some of the most talented junior golfers in the Northwest.
The public is welcome to attend and watch the finest junior golfers in the region.