2023 Richmond Women's City Amateur
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June 6, 2023
Lewis' City Amateur Leap: From Qualifying Struggle to Unqualified Atonement
By VIC DORR JR.
Liza Lewis didn’t merely open the door when redemption knocked on the first day of match play at the Richmond Women’s Golf Association City Amateur championship. She tore the door from its hinges.
Lewis banished a pair of personal demons with a gritty 2-upSCORE victory over two-time defending champion Kristine Rohrbaugh in the first and most conspicuous of Tuesday’s eight championship flight matches at The Lakeside Club. She applied a generous layer of salve to the memory of her 1-up loss to Rohrbaugh in last year’s City Amateur final at Salisbury Country Club. And she erased the bitter taste of Monday’s 15-over-par performance on qualifying day – a performance that forced her to win a sudden death playoff to earn the last slot in this year’s championship flight. Many observers expected Lewis and Rohrbaugh to meet again in 2023 – but on the last day of match play, not the first.
“I was awful” in Monday’s 18-hole qualifying round, Lewis said. “It was a terrible ball-striking day. Today I kept reminding myself to just slow down and concentrate on making solid contact with the golf ball. Sometimes I let myself think too far ahead. I didn’t do that today. Today I tried to take it one shot at a time and one good, solid swing at a time.”
Lewis, one of the strongest individuals in the 77-player field, relied on other weapons – notably poise and steadiness – in her showdown with Lewis.
“My goal today was simply to put myself in position” to score, she said. “Just try to hit the par 4s in two and the par 5s in three. I wanted to be consistent. You know: don’t overthink it. Don’t make too many crazy mistakes. I feel like the mental part of my game is so much better than it used to be. Before, I’d get mad whenever I hit a poor shot.” Today, she said, “I tried to make my time and regroup” whenever she erred.
The match wasn’t pretty, but it was without a doubt compelling. Rohrbaugh, the tournament’s No. 1 seed, never led. But she seemed always to be nipping at Lewis’ heels. In essence, Rohrbaugh spent her day fighting to erase Lewis’ tenuous lead. Lewis spent her day fighting to preserve it.
Lewis opened 2-up leads on three occasions, the last when she chipped in for a 25-foot birdie at the par-4 13th. Rohrbaugh responded with a birdie at the par-5 14th. But she would come no closer. She singed the cup with a 20-foot birdie attempt at the par-4 16th and missed a three-footer for what would have been a winning par at the par-4 17th.
Said Lewis: “She’s such a good putter. I thought for sure we were going to be even going to 18.” Playing the final hole with 1-up lead, Lewis said, “made everything a lot easier.”
Four former champions teed off on a mild, breezy day at the 5,130-yard, par 71 Lakeside club course. Only one survived. Joanne Kitusky, who won when the City Amateur last visited north Richmond in 2012, defeated Euna Chang 1-up.
“I remember reading in the newspaper about Boodie winning all of those championships when I was growing up,” Woo said. “When I saw (today’s pairing) I told myself: ‘OK -- you’d better pull yourself together and keep your nerves under control,’” Woo said.
She succeeded, McGurn said. “For someone who’d never played match play before,” McGurn said, “she did a great job keeping her head in it” from start to finish.
Joy Cimburke defeated three-time champion Peggy Freeman 1-up. Cimburke, though a tournament veteran, was making her championship flight debut.
“I’m very happy and very relieved,” she said. Nerves, she admitted, were a bit of an issue. “I did a lot of breathing” exercises. “And I kept telling myself: ‘Just stay out of trouble.’”
Also advancing: qualifying medalist Fei Rosebro, 2-up over Suzanne Miller; 16-year-old Grace Anne Haggerty, 2-up over Lisa Cox, and Helen Im, 6 and 5 over Whitney Pace.
Joy Cimburke
Grace Anne Haggerty & Lisa Cox
Brittany Woo
Boodie McGurn & Brittany Woo
Liza Lewis & Kristine Rohrbaugh
Brittany Woo, a 27-year-old who is playing in the City Amateur for the first time, defeated five-time champion Boodie McGurn 1-up. Woo chipped in from about 15 yards for a birdie at No. 3. She won the par-5 18th after McGurn had rallied from 2-down with victories at 16 and 17.