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urviving 39 holes in Tuesday's matches, Meghan Stasi of Oakland Park, defeated Andrea Kraus of Baltimore, Maryland, 2&1 in the Wednesday morning quarterfinal match of the US Women's Mid-Amateur Championship at Briggs Ranch Golf Club in San Antonio, Texas.
Wednesday morning's quarterfinal match proved to be less grueling, as Stasi defeated Kraus, 2&1, in the quarterfinal matches. Stasi was never down during the match, and was at most 3 up after hole 8. Kraus battled back twice to be only 1 down heading into the seventeenth hole, but faltered with a bogey giving Stasi the win with her par.
Stasi will play Laura Coble, of Augusta, Georgia, in Tuesday afternoon's semi-final match. Coble represented Georgia in this year's Women's Southeastern Challenge Matches against Florida and Alabama. Florida hosted this years matches at Country Club of Ocala, where Stasi was part of the 12 person Florida team. Although they did not face each other head-on, both players contributed to their team's success. Georgia was in the lead after day one of matches, but Florida came back with a vengeance on day two to win the team matches with 24 points over Georgia's 20.5, and Alabama's 18.5.
Tuesday Recap: With one of the greatest comebacks in championship history, three-time US Women's Mid-Am champion Meghan Stasi, defeated Lynne Cowan of Davis, California, after 21 holes. Stasi was 5 down after 12 when she went eagle-eagle-birdie-birdie on holes 13 through 16 to get back to 1 down on Cowan. Cowan's bogey on 18 gave Stasi the window she needed, making par and extending the match to extra holes. Both players made par on the next three holes, but Stasi's experience in pressure situations proved to pay off after she birdied the 21st hole to end the match. “I’ve never been that far down before, but I finally figured out something with my setup,” said Stasi, who made a 4-foot putt on the third playoff hole to advance. “I felt good after I teed off on 10 and knew I had a chance.”
After her grueling 21 hole morning match, Stasi defeated her Round of 16 opponent, local Kelley Nittoli of San Antonio, 2-up. Stasi took an early lead over Nittoli with a birdie on the first hole and was never down during the afternoon match.
The 2012 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur is the first national championship conducted at the club, but sectional qualifying for the U.S. Junior Amateur and the USGA Senior Amateur has been previously staged at Briggs Ranch, along with local U.S. Open qualifying. Briggs Ranch Golf Club, a Tom Fazio layout, is set up at 6,142 yards and will play to a par of 36-36--72. The championship is open to amateur female golfers who have reached their 25th birthday on or before Oct. 6, 2012, and who hold a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 9.4.
Click here or check out www.USGA.org for complete results and live scoring.
