SAN ANTONIO- Texas A&M sophomore golfer Amber Park won the 97th Texas Women's State Amateur Championship at San Antonio Country Club Friday, winning 4-and-3 in the championship match.
Park never trailed in the championship match, closing out the match on with a 3-foot par putt on the 15th hole. A sand save on the No. 9 gave Park a 2 Up lead, entering the back nine in a match she never trailed. Park won three straight holes on the back nine, and only needed to make a short par putt on No. 15 to halve the hole and win the match.
"It was a really great honor to win this tournament," said Park. "It means a lot to me. There were a lot of supporters out there. Lots of Aggie supporters, and I'm really thankful I got to play."
Park reached the final with a 3-and-2 victory over Kenzie Wright of SMU in the semifinals, and won 4-and-3 in the quarterfinals. She started her run with a 2-and-1 win over Scarlett Eaton of ULM in the first round and had a 5-and-4 win in the second round. Park earned a top-5 seed with a 1-over 73 in Tuesday's qualifying round. All told, Park defeated two of the top five amateurs in the Texas, according to Golfweek's rankings.
Park was a semifinalist at last year's event at Traditions Club.
Sophomore Ariana Saenz advanced to the round of 16, before falling to North Texas' Lauren Cox in 22 holes.
Park never trailed in the championship match, closing out the match on with a 3-foot par putt on the 15th hole. A sand save on the No. 9 gave Park a 2 Up lead, entering the back nine in a match she never trailed. Park won three straight holes on the back nine, and only needed to make a short par putt on No. 15 to halve the hole and win the match.
"It was a really great honor to win this tournament," said Park. "It means a lot to me. There were a lot of supporters out there. Lots of Aggie supporters, and I'm really thankful I got to play."
Park reached the final with a 3-and-2 victory over Kenzie Wright of SMU in the semifinals, and won 4-and-3 in the quarterfinals. She started her run with a 2-and-1 win over Scarlett Eaton of ULM in the first round and had a 5-and-4 win in the second round. Park earned a top-5 seed with a 1-over 73 in Tuesday's qualifying round. All told, Park defeated two of the top five amateurs in the Texas, according to Golfweek's rankings.
Park was a semifinalist at last year's event at Traditions Club.
Sophomore Ariana Saenz advanced to the round of 16, before falling to North Texas' Lauren Cox in 22 holes.