Mallory Viera Wins 84th Womens Amateur
Mallory Viera, of Howey-in-the-Hills, defeated Yuanru Yin, of Orlando, in the final match to win the 84th Florida State Women’s Amateur Championship held at Vero Beach Country Club in Vero Beach, on June 8-12.
The final match was filled with excitement on Wednesday morning. Viera got off to a hot start taking an early lead with a birdie on the par 5 second hole only to see Yin drain a six-foot birdie putt on the 3rd hole to square the match. After halving holes four through eight, Yin would win the 9th hole to take a 1up lead into the final nine holes of play. After losing the 10th hole with a bogey, Viera would go on to birdie holes 11 and 13 to square the match. On hole 16, Yin would take a 1 up lead by making par, but a costly three putt bogey on the par three 17th hole would once again square the match heading to the difficult 18th hole. It was only fitting that both players would make great par saves on the 18th hole to send the match to extra holes.
On the 19th hole, Viera and Yin both found the trees off the tee but recovered nicely to make pars and send the match to the 20th hole. The 20th hole was a reachable par 5, and after both players hit great tee shots, Viera would be the first to play. Going for the green in two, her shot just ended up short on the front edge forcing Yin to pull off a great second shot. Yin’s chances were derailed after her second shot came to rest out of bounds by an inch and a half. Yin then conceded the match for a dramatic victory for Viera.
Viera, who is currently a senior at Stetson University, earned her first State Championship title on Wednesday joining some great champions who have won this prestigious event. Viera also recently qualified for the United States Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship to be held June 17-22 at the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club, in Norman, Oklahoma.
Before reaching the finals of the Women's Amateur Championship Viera and Yin, both endured 36-holes of stroke play to advance to the match play portion of the event. After the field was trimmed to the low 32 competitors, both players had to win four matches to advance to the finals.
Entries close Wednesday, May 22, 2013
The Women's Amateur Championship is the oldest and most prestigious event on the women's championship schedule. In it's 84th year, past champions include the names of Cristie Kerr, Meghan Stasi, Taffy Brower, and other notables. The format of this prestigious championship has been changed to 36 holes of stroke play to cut the field to low 32 for match play. The Amateur will move to June, and will now include only one division, played from 6,000 yards without handicaps (gross only) and no consolation flights. 
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