If you don’t believe Colorado State University teammates Katrina Prendergast and Ellen Secor had a spectacular, magical run at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship, try this statistic on for size:
They never trailed — even once — in the first four matches they played at El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana, Calif. That’s 66 holes of either leading or — at worst — being tied.
In fact, that streak was extended to 72 holes on Wednesday afternoon in the finals of the national championship.
And even when the streak ended, it didn’t faze the two Rams, who qualified in Westminster for the championship. Prendergast and Secor were 2 down with four holes left, but a big-time rally down the stretch netted them a 1-up victory and the national title.
After securing the championship by halving No. 18 with teenagers Yachun Chang of Chinese Taipei and Lei Ye of China, Secor said on a USGA video, “I can’t believe we just did that.” (The champions are pictured in a USGA photo, with Prendergast at left.)
The victory by Prendergast and Secor is believed to be the first USGA national amateur championship by a person or team with strong Colorado ties since Jill McGill won the 1993 U.S. Women’s Amateur and 1994 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links. Prendergast is a CSU junior from Sparks, Nev., and Secor is a sophomore from Portland, Ore. Each of the last two years, they’ve been medalists in the Colorado qualifying tournament to earn berths into the national Women’s Amateur Four-Ball.
Both are members of the CGA.
After qualifying last October at Walnut Creek Golf Preserve, Secor made a comment that now appears prescient.
“The biggest thing is getting redemption,” she said then. “We played Monica Vaughn (who won the 2017 NCAA individual title) and Bailey Tardy (a 2016 Curtis Cup teammate of Vaughn) “” probably the top two amateur players in the country (then) “” in the round of 16, and we really want to get redemption and come back and win the (national) Four-Ball. I definitely feel confident, and I know KP does too.”
Chang, 17, and Ye, 16, first took a lead with a birdie on the seventh hole of Wednesday afternoon’s final. But the Rams certainly didn’t let that get them down. They retook the lead on No. 9 after two straight birdies and were all square after 12. That’s when Chang and Ye went birdie-par to take a 2-up lead through 14.
With some in the gallery openly rooting for Chang and Ye, Secor gained extra motivation.
“That’s how she plays,” Pendergast said of Secor in an interview with the USGA. “She gets fired up, and that really helps her, and I think it actually helped me, too. I got pumped up after I made par on 15, and then we got two good shots in on 16. We had the tee, and I think those two shots really helped put pressure on them.”
Indeed, after going 2 down, Prendergast and Secor responded in kind — and then some — by winning three straight holes: No. 15 with a par and Nos. 16 and 17 with birdies — to take the lead again, at 1 up. Secor contributed the 12-foot birdie on 16 and Prendergast two-putted for birdie on the decisive 17th, prompting Secor to yell, “Catch Ram Fever.” And after the two sides halved No. 18 with pars, it was celebration time for the Rams teammates.
Prendergast and Secor finished 3 under par in the title match.
Earlier on Wednesday, they advanced with a 3 and 2 semifinal win over future Duke teammates Megan Furtney of Chicago and Erica Shepherd of Greenwood, Ind., the 2017 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion. The Rams made five birdies in a bogey-free 16 holes.
For a team that started out so poorly in the national championship, Prendergast and Secor certainly caught fire.
The CSU teammates were 3 over par best ball after their first six holes of stroke play at El Caballero. Suffice it to say things weren’t looking particularly good for the two to return to match play in the event after going to the round of 16 in 2017.
But going 10 under par over the next 30 holes of stroke play rectified that, and Prendergast and Secor were off and running. And five match play victories later, they had the joy of holding the national championship trophy.
In that respect, they’re now in the same category as their coach at CSU, Annie Young. Then known as Annie Thurman, she claimed a national title in the 2002 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links.
Next up for Prendergast and Secor will be the NCAA Regionals May 7-9 in Austin, Texas, where they’ll compete as individuals.
Here are the scores for the local teams that competed this week in Tarzana:
MATCH PLAY FINALS
CSU teammates Katrina Prendergast/Ellen Secor def. Yachun Chang of Chinese Taipei, and Lei Ye of China, 1 up
MATCH PLAY SEMIFINALS
CSU teammates Katrina Prendergast/Ellen Secor def. Megan Furtney of Chicago and Erica Shepherd of Greenwood, Ind., 3 and 2.
MATCH PLAY QUARTERFINALS
CSU teammates Katrina Prendergast/Ellen Secor def. Katherine Gravel-Coursol of Canada and Paige Nelson of Farmers Branch, Texas, 1 up.
MATCH PLAY ROUND OF 16
CSU teammates Katrina Prendergast/Ellen Secor def. Hailey Borja of Lake Forest, Calif., and Chayse Gomez of Yorba Linda, Calif., 4 and 2.
MATCH PLAY ROUND OF 32
CSU teammates Katrina Prendergast/Ellen Secor def. Calynne Rosholt and Chandler Rosholt of Cedar Park, Texas, 4 and 2.
Meghan Stasi of Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Dawn Woodard of Greenville, S.C. def. Charlotte Hillary of Cherry Hills Village/Hailey Schalk of Erie, 1 up.
STROKE PLAY
6. CSU teammates Katrina Prendergast/Ellen Secor 70-67–137
15. Charlotte Hillary of Cherry Hills Village/Hailey Schalk of Erie 70-70–140
For all the scores from the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, CLICK HERE.
