Puga, Burnham Lead Women's State Amateur with 73's

MENDOTA HEIGHTS -- College players and recent graduates won nine of the 10 Minnesota Women's State Amateur Championships from 2001 to 2010. Last year's tournament, on the other hand, was won by Celia Kuenster, who was still a few weeks away from starting her sophomore year at Cretin-Derham High School.

This year, it's not just Kuenster but a whole posse of high school girls who seem ready to challege for the crown. 

There are three of them among the top four spots on the leaderboard Tuesday after the opening round of the 2012 Women's Amateur at Medakota Country Club.

Sarah Burnham, a soon-to-be-junior at Wayzata who won the Women's State Publinx Stroke Play title in July, is tied for first after shooting a 1-over-par 73. She birdied the par-5 first hole at Mendakota and also birdied two of the last three holes, but had four bogeys in between.

The player she's tied with is former University of Minnesota star Teresa Puga. Puga, who graduated a year ago and is now an assistant coach for the Minnesota women's team, holds the Gopher records for lowest stroke average for a career (75.51) and for a season (73.34 in 2010-11).

Her round got off to a steady -- if slightly boring start -- as she made nine pars and a bogey in the first 10 holes. She followed that with three birdies, three bogeys and two pars in her last eight holes.

New Prague's McKenzie Neisen, another member of the prodigiously talented Class of 14 -- which seems destined to become Minnesota's best high school class ever -- is a stroke behind at 74, along with yet another prepster: Shakopee senior Alex Schmid. 

The hottest player in the state coming into the Women's Am was a current Gopher, Jaclyn Shepherd. She won the Women's State Match Play two weeks ago and finished second to professional Lisa Grimes last week in the State Open. 

On Tuesday, the senior from Delafield, Wis., shot 75, and she's tied for fifth along with Kathy Hubert-Wyss. 

Then comes a group of five players at 76, including Kuenster. She has successfully defended two other titles this year -- she won the Class AAA championship again (by two strokes over Neisen) at the state high school tournament, and claimed her second State Girls Junior championship in a row (Burnham was the runner-up for the second year in a row). And she still has two rounds to go in the Women's Am.   

MINNESOTA WOMEN'S GOLF ASSOCIATION

Women's State Amateur Championship

At Mendakota Country Club 

Par 72, 6,131 yards

Mendota Heights

First-round results 

T1. Sarah Burnham                73

T1. Teresa Puga                      73

T3. McKenzie Neisen             74

T3. Alex Schmid                       74

T5. Jaclyn Shepherd               75

T5. Kathy Hubert-Wyss           75

T7. Kristen Wagner                 76

T7. Celia Kuenster                  76

T7. Michelle Kleckner             76

T7. Maggie Leland                  76

T7. Steffi Neisen                      76

T12. Leigh Klasse                   77

T12. Olivia Lansing                 77