Thothong Wins Stroke Play Championship
HOUSTON — Megan Thothong of Dallas won the 2016 Women’s Stroke Play Champion after shooting a 1-under-par 71 for her final round at Pine Forest Country Club.
Thothong led the tournament wire-to-wire. After the first round she was tied with three other players at 2-under par and claimed sole possession of the lead at 7-under after a second round 67. Her final round was more of the same as she finished 8-under for the tournament.
Despite her consistency throughout the three-day tournament, Thothong had an up-and-down third round. She was 2-over making the turn to the back nine but two quick birdies on holes 10 and 11 brought her back to even par for the day.
“It was a really shaky start but I kind of tweaked some swing things here and there and then after that, it was a little bit smoother,” Thothong said.
Thothong was runner-up at last year’s Women’s Stroke Play when it was played at Eagle’s Bluff Country Club in Bullard. She was six strokes behind the 2015 champion, Kaitlyn Papp. Winning this year after last year’s disappointment made the victory even sweeter for Thothong.
“To come back and be able to play well again even if it’s at a different course, it means a lot,” Thothong said. “I play a lot of WTGA events so it means so much to be able to put another win under my belt.”
Right behind Thothong was Sugarland native, Amber Wang. She finished the championship 2-under for the day and 6-under for the tournament.
“I am just very excited. Coming in I didn’t think I’d play that well so just being in contention was just amazing for me,” Wang said. “Obviously Megan played great and she definitely deserved it.”
Another notable round from the day came from Kelsey Badmeav of Boerne. Starting out the day she was 3-over for the tournament. After shooting the lowest score of the day, a 4-under 68, Badmeav finished tied for fourth at 1-under for the tournament.
The low mid-amateur for the tournament was Marion Barker of Lubbock. She shot a three-day combined score of 232 which is 16-over for the tournament.
Play was suspended due to lightning at 1:50 p.m. just before the final group of flight one could finish their last hole. Play resumed at 2:57 p.m. The winner of flight one was Kristin Glesne of San Antonio with a 54-hole score of 232. Flor Canedo from The Woodlands won flight two with a final score of 247.
The TGA extends its sincere gratitude to the staff and members at Pine Forest Country Club, as well as our volunteers, for their generosity and efforts, all of which made the Women’s Stroke Play Championship a success.
The Women’s Stroke Play Championship marks the third Women’s TGA tournament of the 2016 season and the third tournament celebrating 100 years of the founding of the Women’s Texas Golf Association. The Breaking 100 campaign highlights this important milestone. The program includes several fundraising campaigns including the “100 Holes of Women’s Competition”.
One of the players making the 100-hole pledge completed the tournament and the first 54 holes of her pledge. Karen Northcutt placed third in flight two with a combined score of 259.
If you would like to contribute to the Breaking 100 campaign you can do so by visiting TexasBreaking100.org. You can also follow the WTGA on Instagram and Twitter (@WTGA1916) to keep up-to-date with the celebrations.
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