THE OMNI HOMESTEAD RESORT |
hole— the longest playoff ever in a Women’ s Amateur final— before Andrews prevailed in riveting fashion.
Martz hit a poor tee shot on the final hole that clipped a tree, and she faced a very difficult recovery from left of the greenside bunker, while Andrews hit a magnificent 4-iron only four feet from the cup. Martz— always a tenacious, never-say-die competitor( she came back to win the Women’ s Amateur the following year despite battling persistent back pain resulting from an automobile accident)— managed to hit her testing recovery shot onto the green, but she faced a 25-foot par
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putt. Martz holed it to save par and force Andrews to make her putt— which she calmly did to make birdie, win the match and claim her fifth consecutive Women’ s Amateur championship.
The 4th at The Cascades has all the elements you look for in an outstanding par 3. Played downhill through a narrow chute of trees against a beautiful backdrop of the Alleghany Mountains, the 4th is visually intimidating, featuring a narrow green surrounded by trouble on all sides— including out of bounds over the green. Indeed, many golfers will select a club that will“ just reach” the front of the green to eliminate
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the trouble and avoid a big number, which is very common on this formidable hole. The putting surface is extremely fast, and while quite level, it contains a number of very subtle breaks that make putting challenging. The 4th is a hole where golfers are delighted with a three and“ they run to the next tee,” knowing that par is always an excellent score on this difficult design.
A seven-time VSGA Player of the Year, David Partridge was elected to the Virginia Golf Hall of Fame in 2020. He lives in the Richmond area and works as a mortgage banker serving clients throughout Virginia.
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