Wisconsin’s Lauterbach takes a narrow lead after opening round of the 122nd Women’s Western Amateur
Northfield, Ill. (July 19, 2022) — Emily Lauterbach, Hartland, Wis., leads the field after firing a 2-under par 69 during the first day of stroke qualifying in the 122nd Women’s Western Amateur at Sunset Ridge Country Club. She averaged 75.03 this past year for the Wisconsin Badgers and already won two tournaments this summer: the Sentry Wisconsin State Women’s Open in June and Wisconsin Women’s Amateur Championship last week. Lauterbatch’s remarkable performance defies her handicap of 5 in a strong and diverse field with a median handicap of -3 along with players representing 28 states and 12 countries.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison senior took the lead as a part of the first wave of morning groups.
“I wasn’t expecting to be in the lead after that. I know half the girls still have to go out, but I was expecting that to be a little further back, which I mean I’m not mad at all,” Lauterbach said. “Scores were a little higher than I was expecting, but it’s pretty windy out there and the fairways are pretty tight in some spots.”
Although half the field had yet to play by the time Lauterbach finished, she maintained the lead by the end of the day. The wind picked up and became a notable challenge for the afternoon groups, with speeds reaching 15 to 20 mph, and no player who teed off 11:30 a.m. or later shot better than 1-over par 72.
Players who tied for second, scoring 1-under par 70 include: Sadie Englemann, Austin, Texas; Rianne Mikheala Malixi, Philippines and Maddison Hinson-Tolchard, Perth, Australia.
“I thought it was pretty tough out there. The wind made it pretty tricky and the pin locations I felt like some of them were quite fair, but there were some tricky ones as well,” said Hinson-Tolchard, the 2021 Amateur runner-up. “So overall, I thought it was a pretty solid day out on the course.”
Three more players scored even-par 71: Brooke Biermann, Wildwood, Mo.; Jennifer Cai, Irvine, Calif. and Taglao Jeeravivitaporn, Thailand.
Defending Amateur Champion Marissa Wenzler, Dayton, Ohio sits in a 14-way tie for 15th place with a score of 2-over par 73. She and the rest of the field compete for one more stroke qualifying round on Wednesday before the field is cut down from 120 to 32 players for the match play portion of the championship from Thursday to Saturday.
Wenzler, a senior at the University of Kentucky, said that her status as reigning champion did not affect her approach to this tournament.
“It’s a different golf course. I think if it was played at the same one, it’d be a little more nerve wracking. But you know, this tournament, they do such a good job at trying to get the best fields and this field this year is amazing,” Wenzler said. “You just got to play shot by shot, hole by hole, and just try to do obviously the same thing as last year. But that’s not really my look into it. I’m just trying to play good golf.”
Two tournaments are held annually, the Amateur Championship has been held without interruption since 1901, not even two world wars and Covid-19 kept the tournament from being played. The Junior Championship was first held in 1920 and has been held annually with the exception of World War II and Covid-19. This year marks the 122nd playing of the Women's Western Amateur Championship at Sunset Ridge Country Club, the previous home to four previous WWGA Championships
1961 Women's Western Junior - Ann Baker
1953 Women's Western Junior - Anne Richardson
1942 Women's Western Amateur - Betty Jameson
1935 Women's Western Open - Opal Hill
Complete scores from the opening round can be found here.
Wednesday’s second round will begin at 7:15 am.
