Armstrong Wins Western Junior Title in Sudden Death

Football players talk about defending their ‘house’ when taking on visiting teams.

Ashley Armstrong of Flossmoor successfully defended her house last week against 95 of the best young female golfers from the United States and four foreign countries, winning the prestigious Western National Junior Championship at Flossmoor Country Club.

It took 20 holes of match play Friday for Armstrong to vanquish the final invader, Jordan Lippetz, a student at the IMG Leadbetter Golf Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

“What a way to end my junior golf career,” Armstrong said. “This win means so much to me.”

It didn’t come easy. Armstrong had to battle back from a two holes down with just three to play.

She birdied the 362-yard, par-4 16th hole to cut the deficit to one.

“That was a real confidence builder for me,” Armstrong said.

Lippetz made a tough putt on 17 to maintain her slim edge, but Armstrong came up with another birdie on the 505-yard, par-5 18th hole to force a sudden death playoff.

Armstrong appeared again on the verge of disaster on the second playoff hole when she put her drive into the right bunker on the 166-yard, par-3 hole while Lippetz hit the green. But Armstrong saved par by sinking a clutch 30-foot putt, putting the pressure back on Lippetz, who couldn’t sink a shorter putt for par.

After posting the best score during two days of qualifying stroke play on the course earlier in the week, Lippetz came into the match play portion of the tournament as the top seed. Calling Armstrong “one tough competitor,” the 17-year-old was gracious in defeat.

“This has been a wonderful experience for me,” Lippetz said. “I have never made it this far in match play.”

Lippetz reached the final by defeating Manuela Carbajo Re of Argentina in their semifinal match, two and one. Armstrong ousted Shawn Rennegarbe of Addieville, Ill., three and one.

Tough quarterfinal 

Armstrong reached the semifinals with a tough quarterfinal victory against a familiar foe, Alexandra Harkins of Crystal Lake.

Harkins, who will be a junior this fall at Crystal Lake Central, finished fourth individually at last fall’s IHSA Class AA championship, one stroke behind Armstrong, who placed third for Homewood-Flossmoor.

Armstrong raced out to an early lead in the match, going up four holes after just six holes of play. But what looked like it might be an easy victory quickly became a dogfight as Harkins won four straight holes to even things up heading to the 12th tee.

“I just let it go away completely,” Armstrong said of her lead. “I just wish I would have solidified my round a little bit better.”

Armstrong, who tied for the second-best score in two days of qualifying play on the course, knew she had to regroup.

“I just thought, ‘I already had her at 4 up, so I can do it again,’” Armstrong said. “I just had to calm down, focus on one shot, and that’s what I did. I could hit the ball a little bit further than here, so on 12 I knew I had an advantage.”

Armstrong parred the 360-yard, par-4 hole to regain the lead. On 13, Harkins missed a short par putt that would have again tied the match.

Two holes later, Armstrong came up with the shot of the match when her chip shot from about 25 feet went into the cup, and she went on to win the match, three and two.

“That solidified the win, I think, because that put me three up with three to play,” Armstrong noted. “That felt really good because my chipping was off all day and then I finally hit a good one.”

Armstrong, who will golf for Notre Dame this fall, hit a lot of good ones over the course of the grueling tournament, which required golfers to play up to 37 holes on back-to-back days. Had she been competing in stroke play in her final match against Lippetz, her score would have been a one-under-par 71, an impressive feat on the challenging course, which was set at 6,119 yards for the tournament.

Michelle Mayer of Flossmoor, who will play at the University of Illinois this fall, lost to Molly Ward of Indianapolis in a Championship Flight Consolation Match Thursday, two up.

This was the 85th Western Junior National Championship, sponsored by the Women’s Western Golf Association.