Parel & Nguyen Win 2022 Women’s Four-Ball Championship

SUGAR LAND – Elise Parel from Porter and Jacqueline Nguyen from Houston went wire-to-wire to capture the 2022 Texas Women’s Four-Ball Championship on Tuesday at Riverbend Country Club.

The pair of Houston Baptist University teammates blitzed Riverbend in the Final Round with an 8-under-par 64. It’s the same stellar score they combined to shoot on Monday. They finished the 36-hole championship with a score of 16-under 128 to win by eight shots.

“Especially being teammates and old friends, it means a lot,” said Parel, who will enter her senior year this fall at HBU. “Winning this tournament means our games are on point. Going into the fall season at HBU, it’s going to give us momentum to keep doing well and keep playing for one another.”

It was a bit of role reversal for Parel and Nguyen in the final round. In Monday’s opening round, Parel routinely hit laser-like approaches, which led to a bevy of looks at birdie from 15 feet and in. They made most of them.

On Tuesday, it was Nguyen’s turn.

“Jackie was on literal fire today,” Parel said of Nguyen, who starts her sophomore campaign next month.

Thanks to Nguyen’s precise iron game – and a hot putter – the dynamic duo birdied their first four holes of the final round. They turned at 6-under for the round and cruised in from there to register a second straight bogey-free round.

“We really weren’t trying to shoot another 64,” Parel said. “We just went out there and played our games. We laughed and enjoyed ourselves. At the end of the day, it’s just golf. We’re out here as teammates and friends.”

Eryn Garza from Montgomery and Brandee Fleming from Magnolia took second place in the Championship Flight with a two-day total of 8-under 136. The two Dallas Baptist University teammates combined to fire a 6-under 66 in the final round. Rylie Cerny from Kingwood and Jessica Aguirre from Colleyville finished in third place at 7-under 137.

Sidney Stramel from Allen and Simone Campise from Lewisville were the fourth-place finishers at 6-under 138. Rounding out the Top 5 were Madison Le from Arlington and Abigail Hirtzel from Waxahachie. They finished the tournament with a score of 4-under 140.

In the First Flight, Meghan Moake from Houston and Caitlyn Stanley from Katy took the title with a 36-hole score of 6-under 138 to win by three shots. Moake and Stanley combined to shoot a 5-under 67 in the final round.

Olivia Campbell from Franklin and Cherri Rapp from Austin took home the first-place hardware in the Second Flight. They finished at 15-over 159 to win by six shots.

The most tightly contested battle came in the Third Flight, where Erica McAlister from Keller and Linda Edwards from Southlake scored a one-shot victory over the Corpus Christi duo of Cathy Gibson and Alisa Kennedy. McAlister and Edwards won with a two-day total of 20-over 164.

A true shot-maker’s course, Riverbend was designed in 1956 by J. Press Maxwell, son of the legendary golf course architect Perry Maxwell. After his father passed away in 1952, J. Press began to emerge as one of America’s most-promising designers.

His work at Riverbend validates those opinions. With tight, hardwood-lined fairways, creatively positioned bodies of water, and thought-provoking green complexes, Riverbend forces players to continually think their way around the scenic course. Tricky doglegs with a few imposing trees located in directly in some fairways keep even the most seasoned players on their toes.

Several players in the field at the 2022 Texas Women’s Four-Ball remarked on how fun and challenging the Riverbend course played during the championship.

The TGA extends its warmest gratitude to Riverbend Country Club, including the members and staff. Everyone at the club went out of their way to make the players, TGA staff, and our volunteers feel welcome and appreciated. It’s this kind of buy-in from prestigious TGA Member Clubs that help us conduct world-class amateur championships.

Extra special thanks go out Director of Golf Ryan Brandt, Golf Course Superintendent George Cincotta, and Catering Director Haille Schindler for their exceptional hospitality and assistance in creating a memorable championship week.

For more information on the 2022 Women’s Four-Ball, click here.