Despite a threat of rainstorms during the second 18-hole round, Ashlan Ramsey defeated Jenna Hague by a score of 7 & 6 in the 36-hole final of the Women’s Western Golf Association’s 113th National Amateur Championship at Dayton Country Club in Dayton, Ohio. Ramsey adds her name on the trophy of Champions which includes Ariya Jutanugarn, Stacy Lewis, Brittany Lang, Grace Park, Beth Park, Nancy Lopez, and Louise Suggs to name a few.
Ramsey is from Milledgeville, Georgia, and will enter at Clemson University this fall. She is taking a week off from golf next week to attend her Freshman Orientation. She is all ready to join the women’s golf team which is starting their 1st program in the fall of 2013. She has worn a Clemson cap all week, along with skirts that included the Clemson orange, and even the grips on all her woods and irons are in Clemson orange.
During the tournament Ramsey took advantage of the housing that was offered by the members of the Dayton Country Club. When Ramsey woke up this morning, she felt some pain in her neck and some tingling down the right arm. She spoke with her hosts ,Bob and Susan Pohl, and Bob contacted one of his neighbors who is an Orthopedic Surgeon who came to the house at 6:20 am. He advised Ramsey to take some Advil and put some ointment on the area of pain and see what happened. When she arrived at Dayton Country Club her warm up time was limited. As she left the Practice Tee, she did not think she could play. She talked to her father via cell phone and cried. After a 15 minute delay in starting play, Ramsey decided to take a chance and see if she could play. So she birdied the 1st hole. She followed that up with birdies on #5 and #7. She made the turn 3 up. Hague won a few holes on the back nine but at the end first 18-hole round the scorecard had Ramsey 4 up.
The contestants agreed to take a half hour break between rounds. Ramsey said she did not feel any better. The second round began at 11:50 am. Hague won the 4th hole. Ramsey got it back on the 5th with a chip in from off the green. From there she won #6, #7, #8 and #10. Hague sunk a putt on #11 to win the hole when players were told to take shelter for thunder and lightning in the area. After approximately a 45 minute delay, they halved the 12th hole and the victory was in Ramsey’s hands.
Ramsey plans to play a number of Amateur tournaments over the summer before she reports to Clemson. Last week she won the Eastern Amateur Championship and the week before that she won the Georgia Women’s Amateur Championship. Now ranked #2 in Golfweek’s Women’s Amateur Rankings behind Lydia Ko, her junior career is like a highlight reel starting with winning the US Kids World Championship in 2006 at the age of 10. During her junior career, she won various AJGA events, participated in at least 4 USGA Girls’ Junior Championships, played on the USA Ping Junior Solheim Cup Team and received a sponsor’s exemption to play in this year’s LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship. We wish her continued success in amateur and college golf.
Hague is a Junior at Ball State University from Burlington, Ontario, Canada. Talking to her after the final match today, she said “she had mixed feelings. Despite being disappointed in her play today, she was happy to have gotten as far as she did in this tournament but felt she had an opportunity that she let slip away.” Hague has won the Mid America Conference Championship for the last two years and is an Academic All American. Her summer is also full of amateur events before she heads back to school in August. Those of us that watched her play this week know what a great game she already has and what potential lies for her in the days ahead.
This tournament started on Monday with 144 players wishing to be the winner. There can be only be one and that is Ashlan Ramsey. 15 year old Brooke Henderson, Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada, was the Medalist in the two day qualifying rounds with a score of 138 on the par 71, 5,948 yard golf Course.
The Derby Cup is given to the two players from the same WWGA member club with the lowest combined gross score from the 36 hole qualifying round. The winner is the Blessings Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas by the University of Arkansas teammates Regina Plascencia, Guadalajara, Mexico and Hally Leadbetter, Brandenton, Florida. Both Plascencia and Leadbetter shot scores of 67 in the second day of qualifying which we believe to be a tournament course record for women at Dayton Country Club.
The Maschmeyer Cup is given to the four players from the same state or foreign country with the lowest combined gross score from the 36-hole round. The winner is Canada with a team of Brooke Henderson, Smiths Falls, Ontario; Augusta, James, Bath, Ontario; Christine Wong, Richmond, British Columbia; and Brittany Marchand, Mono, Ontario. James and Marchard play for North Carolina State University and Wong played for San Diego State University. Henderson is entering her Junior year of high school so she still has time to figure out where she will play college golf.
Again, we would like the thank the members and staff of Dayton Country Club for their wonderful hospitality and support to and for the Women’s Western Golf Association and their 113th National Amateur Championship. The WWGA 114th National Amateur Championship will be played at Lancaster Country Club, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, June 23-28, 2014. More information will be available on our website, www.WWGA.org and applications will be on line approximately February 15th.
For more information about the Women’s Western Golf Association and the Women’s Western Golf Foundation, visit our website at www.WWGA.org.