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Opening Drive by CHRIS LANG Three Cheers for LC
Reilly ’ s Summer Breakthrough Cont ’ d ...
HERE ’ S THE LIST OF VIRGINIA-BORN GOLFERS WHO HAVE PLAYED IN A SOLHEIM CUP : DONNA ANDREWS AND BRITTANY LANG .
That ’ s it . So , forgive us if we ’ re just a little excited here in VSGA circles about the season that Chesapeake native , UVA grad , and two-time VSGA Women ’ s Amateur champion , Lauren Coughlin , has put together . She showed up big time in the majors this season , with a T3 in the Chevron and a solo fourth at the Evian — a tournament she led heading to the back nine .
Then came the breakthrough in Canada in late July . Trailing by three strokes heading to the 11th tee at the CPKC Women ’ s Open , she took advantage of some Hae Ran Ryu stumbles to get back into the tournament , and then busted the door wide open by nailing one of the biggest putts of her life for birdie on 17 to take a two-stroke lead to the final hole . A two-putt par and a champagne shower with husband John Pond later , and Coughlin was an LPGA champion .
It was at that point that she felt comfortable saying the quiet part out loud . Coughlin called into the No Laying Up podcast and at one point during the discussion simply said , “ I mean , I think I ’ m going to be on the team .”
That seemed to be the thought of most in golf media as well . The victory moved her to fifth in the U . S . Solheim Cup standings , and the top seven earn automatic spots on the team . Due to deadline constraints , this issue of Virginia Golfer was put to bed on Aug . 7 , well before the official team selection cutoff of Aug . 26 . Not ideal , I know . But Coughlin was considered pretty close to a lock to make the squad , a position strengthened further by a top-10 finish the following week in Portland , Ore . That moved her to fourth in the U . S . standings with just two counting tournaments to play .
To wit , Coughlin spent the week of Aug . 5 up in Gainesville , playing practice rounds at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club , host of September ’ s Solheim Cup . You can read more about the event in Lisa Mickey ’ s story in this issue . Virginia golf fans have every reason to be proud of Coughlin , a great ambassador for the sport who embodies the fighting spirit of someone who had to earn everything she ’ s gotten in her professional career .
Chris Lang , Editor clang @ vsga . org
Trailing by three strokes heading to the 11th tee at the CPKC Women ’ s Open , Coughlin took advantage of some Hae Ran Ryu stumbles to get back into the tournament , then busted the door wide open by nailing one of the biggest putts of her life for birdie on 17 to take a two-stroke lead to the final hole . A two-putt par and a champagne shower with husband John Pond later , and Coughlin was an LPGA champion .
Michelle Cox
the stretch , and an up-and-down from the bunker on 17 was enough to secure a 2-and-1 win over Duangsam for the title .
“ She ’ s an amazing , incredible player and it was an honor to play with her ,” the 16-year-old Duangsam said . “ It was a really tight match . I was playing my game , she was playing her game . I ’ m happy for her .”
COX DOMINATES WOMEN ’ S OPEN The Women ’ s Open of Virginia is different than the State Open in that there are no residency requirements involved . That ’ s attracted some impressive college players from afar , including last year ’ s champion ( Kaylyn Noh of California ) and 2024 winner Michelle Cox of Penn State .
Cox heard about the Women ’ s Open of Virginia from her coach at Penn State , Virginia native Kristen Simpson , who played collegiately at the University of Virginia . The long-hitting Cox jumped to a five-stroke lead behind rounds of 71 and 67 , then opened her third round with consecutive birdies to essentially seal her victory . Her three-day total of 209 was seven strokes better than runners-up Alexandra Austin , Rhianna Gooneratne , and Sydney Hackett .
Afterward , the VSGA and MAPGA announced that the perpetual trophy for the Women ’ s Open going forward will be named for Virginia Golf Hall of Famer Robbye Unger , who won six VSGA Women ’ s Amateur titles . The 2025 event will be held in June at Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville , Unger ’ s home course .
CHRIS LANG
6 V IRGINIA G OLFER | S EPTEMBER / O CTOBER 2024 vsga . org