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Show July 19, 2000, Cont'd Howe adds state amateur title to year's collection WSU senior-to-be holds on to defeat Nyhus by one stroke for championship By BRADY BINGHAM Standard-Examiner staff LOGAN - There was no shortage of possible scenarios heading into Wednesday's final round of the Women's State Amateur Championship. Could three-time champion Lachelle Poffenberger capture a fourth title in this the 100th anniversary of the championship? Could last year's champion Sue Nyhus defend her title and earn her third championship? Could the former Weber State University star Aimee Williams (known as Aimee Aardema when she graduated in 1998) win her first title despite being nearly five months pregnant? Could a dark horse come from behind to surprise the field or would Tenille Howe, Tuesday's Howe second-round leader, hold on to her precarious one-shot lead and win her first state am title? Although nearly all of the above had an opportunity, Howe withstood the pressure to shoot a 1 -over-par 73 for a cumulative score of 3-over-par 219 at the 5,653-yard, par-72 Logan Golf and Country Club to defeat Nyhus by one shot. For Howe, a senior-to-be at Weber State, the victory was a continuation of what has been a fantastic year of golf and a feeling of relief to have finally captured the tournament she wanted so badly. "It's been a long time wait," Howe said of winning the championship for the first time in five attempts. "I've been wanting this one for a long time, so this feels good." Despite surrendering her lead early in the round, Howe found herself in a four-way tie for the lead through 13 holes with Nyhus, Poffenberger, and Jessica Garnder, who had charged from the back of the pack. But at the 470-yard, par-5 14th hole, fortunes turned in Howe's favor. Already at 3-over-par on her round, Howe stood shaking her head and staring at a tricky chipshot from an uphill slope to the left side of the green. Howe delicately flipped the ball toward the hole and watched it rattle against the pin - saving a certain bogey -and drop for a birdie. At the same hole, Nyhus carded a three-putt bogey and Howe had a two-shot swing over the defending champ. "I could tell I hit it pretty firm, but I didn't know how far it might have gone by," Howe said of her shot at No. 14. "After that shot I got a little excited, I have to admit." That overexcitement burned Howe at the next hole as she jerked her tee shot off the tee at the par-3 No. 15 to the left of the green. Howe chipped and two-putted for bogey and surrendered her lead back to Nyhus, who canned a 7-foot birdie putt at the same hole. But another birdie at the 257-yard, par 4 put Howe back into a lead she would not surrender. At No. 18, with Nyhus 24 feet from a potential tournament tying birdie, Howe hit her second shot - a sand wedge from 60 yards out - inside Nyhus' ball After Nyhus missed her putt, Howe merely had to two-putt for par and the victory. "(Howe) has played great all summer," Nyhus said. "She has made a big turning point in her mental game." This year, Howe won medalist honors at the Big Sky Golf Championships, made it to the round of 16 at the USGA Public Links Championship and qualified to play in the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship this August. Howe can now add the state am title to that list. 98 |
