ROME, Ga. — Jenny Bae, a rising senior on the Georgia women’s golf team, turned in a dominant performance en route to winning the Georgia State Golf Association’s Women’s Amateur Championship on Thursday. Bae wrapped up the 54-hole tournament at Coosa Country Club shooting 11-under 205, five strokes clear of the field.
Bae was in third place, one shot back of the co-leaders, following a 3-under 69 on Tuesday. The Collins Hill High graduate took control on Wednesday with a bogey-free, 6-under 66. Bae began today with a 3-shot lead and widened that gap with a closing 70.
“For me, I approach every round with the same mindset,” Bae said. “It’s shot by shot and hole by hole. Today, I really didn’t care about the leaderboard. I was justing seeing how low I could go. Today wasn’t as good as yesterday but because of the three days together I got the win and have a trophy in my hands so I’m pretty satisfied.”
Bae made 17 birdies over three days, doing so on just under one-third of total holes she played in Rome.
“My putting was absolutely great this week. It saved me a few times,” Bae said. “Even without the putting, everything overall came back together really well in one piece. This is my first tournament since NCAAs, and it was great to be back out competing.”
Bae will have the chance to continue her strong play on Thursday when she begins the Georgia Women’s Open at the University of Georgia Golf Course.
“I have a tee time in Athens in the morning,” Bae said. “We’ll see how it goes.”
Bae will be in the fourth group to tee off on Thursday morning, beginning her day at 8:30. Three more Bulldogs also are in the field, with Alison Crenshaw teeing off at 8:40, Jo Hua Hung teeing off at 9:50 and Zoë Walker teeing off at 10:20.
Bae, who earned All-America and All-SEC honors last season, is the ninth Georgia golfer to win the Georgia Women’s Am and the third in the last four years following Bailey Tardy (2018) and Rinko Mitsunaga (2019). Those nine Bulldogs have combined to win 15 Georgia Am titles.
In addition to Bae, incoming freshman LoraLie Cowart tied for 10th at 1-over 217, and Crenshaw finished 32nd at 226.
On Wednesday, rising junior Caroline Craig finished 20th at the Donna Andrews Invitational at Boonsboro Country Club in Lynchburg, Va., after shooting 226 over three days.