Virginia Golfer May / Jun 2018 | Page 25

93 rd VSGA Women’s Amateur Championship THE VENUE Farmington Country Club, a classic Fred Findlay design in Charlottesville, is no stranger to hosting VSGA championships. This will be the fifth Wom- en’s Amateur contested at the course, which has also been the site for three men’s Amateurs. Carol Robertson, the current Virginia Tech women’s golf coach, won the Women’s Amateur in 2006 at Farmington, the last time it hosted. TOP CONTENDERS Lauren Greenlief (International CC): Green- lief admittedly wasn’t herself in 2016, the year after she won the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship. She lost in the round of 16 at the Women’s Amateur, marking the only time since 2010 that she had failed to reach the semifinals at the event. She got off to a strong start in 2018 when she teamed with Katie Miller to win the Women’s International Four-Ball in Florida. The pair will compete at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball in late May. Abby Portyrata (First Tee of Greater Richmond): Now a junior at Old Domin- ion University, Portryata has a ster- ling 13-2 record in match play at the Women’s Am. She reached the semi- finals last year despite having barely played during the summer ahead of the championship. Amanda Hollandsworth (Great Oaks CC): Hollandsworth won the VSGA Women’s Stroke Play title last year and reached the championship match of the 2016 Women’s Am, but a first-round defeat last year left a bad taste for the Virginia Tech junior. Amanda Hollandsworth Caroline Curtis (Hermitage CC): If Curtis competes, she’s as big of a threat as anyone. The Collegiate School junior has been the stroke-play medalist at the last two Women’s Ams but lost to the eventual champion both years (Portyrata in ’16, Greenlief in ’17). As of early April, she was 15th nationally in the AJGA Rolex girls rankings. TOUGHEST HOLES: The opening inward nine at Farmington starts with the long par-3 10th hole and features the short par-4 13th hole that could be drivable for match play, which could make for some interesting strategic decisions. DID YOU KNOW? The last time the run- ner-up from the prior year won the Women’s Amateur the following year was in 2008 when Lauren Doughtie defeated Kristen Simpson the year after losing to Sarah Harvey in the title match. vsga.org M AY / J U N E 2 0 18 | V I R G I N I A G O L F E R 23