Kuenster's 71 Takes the Lead at Minnesota Women's State Amateur at Dellwood

By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org


  DELLWOOD, Minn. – The start to the 2013 Minnesota Women’s State Amateur Championship got off to a fairly quiet start Monday at Dellwood Country Club, as winds and quick greens kept players from posting red numbers.

Under Tuesday’s ideal conditions, a pair of high school seniors took advantage and posted the two best rounds of the tournament.

Celia Kuenster was tied for the lead after shooting a 3-over par 76 Monday but put together an impressive round Tuesday to take the lead by three strokes after shooting a 2-under par 71.

“I started off kind of rough, but I was able to get a couple of lucky breaks and kept it together,” Kuenster said after her round.

Kuenster, a senior at Cretin-Derham Hall High School, got off to a shaky start with a bogey on the third hole and a double on the seventh to go 3-over for the day but turned things around quickly with back-to-back birdies on the eighth and ninth holes to make the turn at 1-over par.

“My putter has worked pretty well so far; I’ve had nice speed control on these greens. My short game has been on this week as well, which it needs to be on this course,” Kuenster said.

After three consecutive pars on the back nine, Kuenster made birdie on the 13th and 14th holes to get to 2-over par for the tournament before giving a stroke back with a bogey on the 15th. Kuenster again found a way to battle back as she made back-to-back birdies on the 17th and 18th to finish strong at 1-under for the day, but 1-over for the tournament.

After a sluggish start to the summer, Kuenster said hard work is beginning to pay off on the course as she has three Top Five finishes this year with the most recent coming last week at the Minnesota Women’s State Open, when she finished tied for fifth.

“I haven’t played very well—I’ve been struggling a little bit. At the national tournaments I didn’t play like I had hoped but I’m working hard to get my game back and regain my confidence,” she said.

With a three-stroke lead heading into the final round, Kuenster’s mindset seemed unfazed as she looked ahead to the Wednesday’s final round.

“I’m going to keep doing what I have been doing and stay patient. There are so many tough holes out here—you just have to keep grinding and keep fighting. That’s all I can really do,” she said.

Olivia Herrick posted a 2-over par 75 for the second straight day and stands at 4-over par for the tournament, three strokes behind the leader heading into the final day.

“It was an interesting day,” Herrick said after the round. “I shot a 40 on the front, which I was disappointed with but then I made four birdies on the back and tried to chip away. My goal at the turn was to get back to two or three over.”

A double-bogey on the fourth hole put Herrick, Dellwood Country Club, at 4-over for the tournament and she dropped another shot with a bogey on the fifth. Herrick went to 6-over with yet another bogey on the eighth and made the turn 4-over for the day.

Her woes continued early on the back nine as a bogey on the 10th put her at 7-over for the tournament. Herrick would stop the bleeding with a birdie on the 11th, but gave it right back with her fourth bogey of the round on the 12th.

With six holes remaining, Herrick sat at 7-over for the tournament and finally showed signs of life as she made birdie on the 14th and 16th to drop to 5-over for the tournament and finished strong with another birdie on the final hole to card a 2-over par 75.

“I knew it was possible to get a couple of birdies on the back with the short par-5s, so I hung in there and turned it around at the end—it was a fight,” Herrick said. “I’ve played a lot of golf and realize that a bad start doesn’t mean a bad finish, so I did my best to hang in there and give myself some opportunities to make birdies.”

Kristin Wagner rebounded Tuesday with a solid round to put herself in contention going into the final round of competition. After a 4-over 77 Monday, Wagner shot 1-over par 74 Tuesday and sits alone in third place at 5-over par, just four shots off the lead.

“It was definitely a better round than yesterday,” Wagner said. “I was able to make a few more putts; I think I got a little more used to the greens today.”

Wagner, Minneapolis Golf Club, sat 1-under through nine holes with a pair of birdies and a bogey but ran into some difficulties on the back nine. After a birdie on the 10th hole got her to 2-over for the tournament, Wagner made bogey on the 13th to fall back to 3-over.

She answered with a birdie on the 14th to move once again to 2-over but on the final four holes Wagner would record three bogeys and finish at 5-over par for the tournament, 2-over for the day.

After a less than stellar opening round, Sarah Burnham heated up Tuesday posting the other sub-par round of the tournament as she carded a 1-under par 72, putting her at 7-over par, in a tie for fourth place.

Burnham, a senior at Wayzata High School, was disappointed with her 81 from the previous day but has been playing extremely well recently as she is fresh off a victory at the Minnesota Women’s State Open.

Burnham carded a course-record 67 on the final day to win the championship by three strokes.

Also tied for fourth are Michelle Kleckner, TPC Twin Cities, Minnesota Gopher Anna Laorr and New Prague senior McKenzie Neisen.

Complete Tournament Results