Kuenster Hangs on to Win Minnesota Women's State Amateur

By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org


  DELLWOOD, Minn. – Upon finishing her second round Tuesday at the 2013 Minnesota Women’s State Amateur Championship, Celia Kuenster admitted that she’s been struggling with her game and that she’s lacked confidence this season.

Gradually, Kuenster’s game has been showing glimpses of her 2012 form when she won three titles with two third place finishes.

Tuesday Kuenster posted the best round of the tournament, shooting a 2-under par 71 to move to the top of the leaderboard and Wednesday held on to her lead to win the amateur championship by a stroke over Minnesota Gopher Anna Laorr at 6-over par 225.

“I love this tournament—it’s a fun tournament with a lot of great players,” Kuenster said after the victory. “It feels really good to be able to fight back and keep it together and finish on top.”

Despite two double-bogeys on the scorecard, Kuenster grinded down the stretch when it counted most and was quick to rebound after getting in trouble.

Kuenster, a senior at Cretin-Derham Hall High School, began her round with a bogey on the opening hole to drop her lead to two-strokes over Kristen Wagner. She then went on to make par on the next six holes before a double-bogey on the eighth hole put her at 4-over for the tournament.

After her tee shot on the par-5 11th hole found the left rough, Kuenster’s second missed far to the right, landing near the 16th tee box. She quickly regained her composure to chip to 15 feet and two-putt for par.

With a bogey on the par-3 12th hole, Kuenster dropped to 5-over par for the tournament and fell into a tie with Wagner.

Kuenster said Tuesday she liked the way her putter has performed recently and felt she has been controlling the speed of her putts extremely well.

When her approach on the par-4 13th hole rolled to the back edge of the green, Kuenster was left with a lengthy, downhill birdie putt. Her putt rolled on a good line to about two feet where she tapped in for par.

Kuenster gave herself another lengthy birdie opportunity on the 14th in which her putt just burned the left edge and she again tapped in for par. On the par-5 15th Kuenster’s tee shot stopped below the hole, about 10 feet from the pin. Her putt never wavered from the middle of the cup as she made a big birdie putt to increase her lead to 3-strokes over Wagner and Laorr.

With a firm lead and just three holes to play, Kuenster pulled her tee shot left on the 16th out of bounds into the trees. She teed up a second ball and found thick rough, right of the fairway.

Her fourth shot missed the green to the left but she made a fantastic chip to a foot from the cup where she tapped in for double-bogey and dropped to 6-over par for the tournament, clinging to a one-stroke lead over Laorr.

Kuenster made a nice par at the par-5 17th hole after her tee shot found a row of trees right of the fairway. She punched out of the trees and was able to put her third shot to about 12 feet where she would two-putt.

Only needing par for the victory on the 18th, Kuenster’s approach rolled to the right edge of the green. Again showing nice touch with the flat iron, she lagged to one foot to tap in for par and the win, her second in three years.

“My short game definitely kept me in contention today,” she said. “Today I didn’t strike the ball as well as I have been this week. I had a couple loose ones—the four-putt on eight from about 15 feet and my drive on 16 went O.B.”

“I just tried to keep fighting. After the tee shot on 16 I had to move on—there’s nothing you can do about it. I figured that if I birdied 17 I would still have a good chance,” Kuenster said.

After the par on the 17th, Kuenster was walking to the 18th tee when she learned that she still had a one-stroke lead. All she needed to do was put the ball in play and make par to win.

Laorr, who will begin her junior year at Minnesota this fall, shot even par during the final round to finish the tournament at 7-over 226, one stroke short of Kuenster.

“I was definitely pleased with the round today, especially after the first two days,” Laorr said. “I think I did a really good job of staying below the hole and gave myself really good looks at birdie.”

Laorr made birdie on the fourth and eighth holes to get to 5-over for the tournament but lost a stroke with a bogey on the ninth. Laorr dropped another shot on the 13th with a bogey but rebounded with a birdie on the 17th to get back to 6-over par.

A bogey on the final hole would prove costly as she watched Kuenster par the final hole to win by a stroke.

“I left some shots out there but Celia played awesome. I had no idea where I stood,” she laughed. “I had no idea it was that close. I was just trying to hold my position and put together a solid tournament. I played really smart golf and I’m pleased with the way I finished.”

McKenzie Neisen carded a final round 74 to finish the tournament at 8-over 227, tied for third with Sarah Burnham.

Neisen, a senior at New Prague High School, had two birdies on the front nine, but they were erased with bogeys on the seventh and ninth holes as she finished the front nine even par.

She started the final nine holes with bogeys on the 10th and 12th but responded with back-to-back birdies on the 14th and 15th. Neisen would finish with a par on the final hole after a bogey on the 17th dropped her back to 8-over for the tournament.

Defending champion Burnham also finished with a final round 74, but early on looked as though she would make a serious push to catch Kuenster.

Burnham, a senior at Wayzata High School, began her round with a birdie at the third to get to 6-over but then made back-to-back birdies on the sixth and seventh holes to draw even with Kuenster at 4-over par. But Burnham carded a triple-bogey on the par-5 eighth hole that all but ended her comeback hopes.

She never fully recovered as she made back-to-back bogeys on the ninth and 10th holes to drop to 9-over. Burnham settled down to make seven consecutive pars before finishing strong with a birdie on the final hole to wind up in third place at 8-over par 227. 

Wagner, who opened the day three shots behind Kuenster, played a solid opening nine holes but unraveled on the final nine holes with two bogeys and two double-bogeys to finish tied for fifth at 11-over 230.

Complete Tournament Results