Thothong Primed for Womens Stroke Play Championship

   While the TGA continues to celebrate the greatest women in Texas golf history with the yearlong Breaking 100 campaign, today’s top amateurs will gather June 24-26 at Pine Forest Country Club in Houston for the second annual Women’s Stroke Play Championship.
   The 54-hole stroke play tournament will go a long way toward determining the inaugural Women’s Player of the Year award winner. The Player of the Year will be decided based on a season-long points race. The two majors on the Women’s schedule – the WTGA State Amateur in July and the Women’s Stroke Play Championship – are more heavily weighted in Player of the Year points distribution. 
   Among the headliners of the event is Dallas native Megan Thothong, a sophomore at the University of Houston who finished second at last year’s Women’s Stroke Play Championship. She shot rounds of 68-73-72 to post even-par 213 at Eagle’s Bluff in Bullard. Thothong came up six shots short of winner Kaitlyn Papp from Austin.
   “Kaitlyn played great,” said Thothong, who won her second tournament for UH this spring at the UNF Collegiate in March. “Last year my short game was lacking a lot. This year I’m focused on that and hoping for better results.”
   Thothong said she hopes to finish one spot better this time around.
   “I don’t sign up for a tournament if I don’t plan on winning,” she said. “I’ll put my best foot forward and see what happens. I’ll always try to play my best and hope that it’s good enough to beat everyone else in the field.”
    The Women’s Stroke Play Championship was created in 2015 to identify the best female amateur in Texas in stroke play format. The exclusive field is limited to 78 players. In addition to the extra Player of the Year points awarded, the Women’s Stroke Play Championship also counts for points in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
   Thothong said she’s circled the event’s dates on her calendar.
   “I think it’s a great tournament,” said Thothong, a three-time participant in the WTGA State Amateur. “They do a great job of picking great courses and mixing it up. I’m not competing every single week in the summers, so choosing events is really important to me. I always make sure get the WTGA State Am and Women’s Stroke Play Championship on my schedule. They’re great events and they always go to good courses.”
    Pine Forest CC is a 27-hole facility located west Houston. It features narrow fairways and smallish greens that challenge players’ accuracy and trajectory. Old school in nature, Pine Forest is one of the best walking courses in Texas with greens and ensuing tee boxes in close proximity. For more information on the Women’s Stroke Play Championship, click here.