Givens, Le to Play for 102nd Women’s Texas Amateur Championship

BULLARD – After winning their third and fourth grueling matches of the week on Thursday, Sydney Givens will face Madison Le for the 102nd Women’s Texas Amateur title at Eagles Bluff Country Club.
An incoming senior at Vandegrift High School in Austin, 4th-seed Sydney Givens held off No. 1 seed Elina Sinz of Katy. After a back-and-forth match on the front nine, Givens took control on the back nine to secure the win. Sinz, a senior at the University of Alabama, missed the green from the fairway. She hit a great flop shot to put it on the green on 17 but finished with a bogey. Givens nailed her fairway shot to put her ball within six feet and then two-putted for par to claim the victory.
“I played great today and made a lot of putts,” said Givens, who recently claimed the individual and team 6A state title at Vandegrift. “I was really pumped to get it done today. The greens today were a little faster so just knowing the speeds of the green and getting my speed control I can make more putts.”
The other Semifinal match featured two talented players as well with 26th-seeded Madison Le of Arlington and 19th-seeded Raleygh Simpson of Kerrville facing off. Le, a sophomore at the University of Texas at Arlington, won 1 up on the 18th hole.
Simpson, an incoming senior at Tivy High School in Kerrville, made a last push for an exciting finish against Le. On the 17th hole, she made a 14-foot uphill putt for birdie to extend the match to the 18th hole. Le then put the pressure back on Raleygh and was able to two-putt for par to secure her victory.
“I feel super great,” said Le. “Today was a grind. It was really difficult today, but I was proud of myself that I pushed to the end. I try to focus one shot at a time and stay in it and not to force things that could happen naturally.”
In other Quarterfinal matches from the Championship Bracket earlier Thursday morning, Le defeated Amari Smith of McKinney 3&1 to advance. Le has been able to finish all her matches before getting to the 18th hole until the semifinal match against Simpson. In the other quarterfinal match, Givens defeated Lubbock’s Haley Vargas 2&1 to move on to her match with Sinz.
Temperatures were brutal for the Quarterfinal and Semifinal rounds on Thursday. In the morning, temperatures stayed in the mid 80’s before reaching low 100s in the afternoon.
Playing from 6031 yards on Thursday, the Eagle’s Bluff’s’s routing through the East Texas woods, thick rough and water hazards continued to make ball control important.
In addition to the Final Match in the Championship Match Play Bracket, Friday also brings the Finals in three lower flights. All the competitors who finished 33rd or worse in Tuesday’s Qualifying Round were seeded into flights based on their scores.