Grace Kim – photo Darren Carroll USGA
At least one of the three Australians to have made the knockout phase of the US Women’s Amateur Championship at the Westchester Golf Club in Rye, New York, was guaranteed a place in the second round.
As it turned out two would advance, although one was at the expense of another.
Brisbane’s Emily Mahar faced West Australian Maddison Hinson-Tolchard in their opening rounds, Mahar getting home after overcoming a two hole deficit with four to play to win 2 up at the 18th.
Hinson-Tolchard, a student at Oklahoma State University, had been the leading qualifier of the three and appeared to have the match in safe keeping when, after being 1 down at the turn, won three of the next five holes to go 2 up with four to play.
Mahar who has been studying and on the golf programme at Virginia Tech in the US, won the last four holes as Hinson-Tolchard bogeyed three of those four and the 22 emerged the winner.
The other to get through was the current Australian Women’s Amateur champion, Grace Kim from the Avondale Golf Club in Sydney.
Kim survived an extremely tight and tense encounter to win 1 up with a par at the last after being 2 down through ten holes.
