Things weren’t looking great for Reagan Southerland after six holes at the 94th Georgia Women’s Amateur on Sunday. She began the day three shots off the lead and her chances didn’t improve after making a double-bogey and bogey on back-to-back holes.
But Southerland was somehow able to recover, find the range with her putter and post a 5-under 67, the low score of the week at Horseshoe Bend Country Club in Roswell. She finished at 6-under 210 and beat second-round leader LoraLie Cowart and Athena Yoo by three shots.
Southerland won the Ceil Maclaurin Trophy for the low round of the tournament and won the Eleanor M. Keeler trophy that goes to the winner.
“I knew I was doing the right things, so I just knew that if I stayed patient with it that I’d be able to recover,” Southerland said.
After her bogey at No. 7, Southerland avoided future mistakes, hit her wedges close and began to post red numbers. She birdied No. 12, eagled No. 14 by holing a blind wedge shot from 96 yards – which tied her for the lead – and birdied No. 15-17.
“It’s really freeing to know you can step over a putt and look at the hole and know it’s going in. That is a good feeling,” she said.
Southerland had positive vibes about her chances before the week began.
“I feel like my game was really solid coming into this tournament,” she said. “I knew if I did the right things and focused on what I needed to focus on, I would have a chance at the end of the week. My game felt really good in practice. I had a really good solid practice round. I just love this golf course. I told my dad that on Thursday night.”
Her father, Chris Southerland, acted as the caddie all week and her mother, Theresa, never missed a shot from the gallery.
“It was comforting to have my dad there,” she said. “He did a good job, especially down the stretch keeping me calm and making me laugh.”
Southerland said she never looked at the leaderboards or checked the electronic updates. She wasn’t aware of her advantageous position until the 18th tee, by which time the outcome was decided.
Southerland graduated from Rivers Academy and will play golf at the University of North Carolina and major in business. She plays out of the Bobby Jones Golf Course in Atlanta and has a summer job working the junior clinics at the facility.
Cowart, a junior at the University of Georgia, led by two shots through eight holes but endured a three-putt birdie at No. 9, took a bogey at No. 11 and double-bogeyed No. 13, which knocked her out of contention. She recovered to birdie No. 16 and 18 and shot 73.
Yoo, a junior at Lambert High School, birdied four straight and was tied for the lead with Southerland after No. 14. But she bogeyed the 15th after her slightly obscured approach shot caught the leaves of a tee and fell short of the green. Unable to get up-and-down for par, she fell two shots behind Southerland. Yoo birdied the final hole to shoot 70.
Ava Merrill of Johns Creek, who plays at Vanderbilt, shot 69 and finished fourth at 2 under.
Sara Im, who will play for Vanderbilt this fall, shot 74 and tied for fifth. Im, the 2020 Georgia Amateur champion, was knocked out of contention when her tee shot at No. 15 went out of bounds and led to a triple bogey. Im tied for fifth with Kallyn Black of Greensboro.
Kristyl Sunderman of McDonough won the Burns Cup that is given annual to the low senior player. Sunderman had a 78 in the second round and finished 30 over.
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