Booth shoots personal best to win WSNGA Southern Nevada Amateur
It was clear that Diane Booth, a member of the Las Vegas Country Club who has been playing golf for only six years, was thrilled about winning the Women’s SNGA Southern Nevada Amateur. Her excited voice told the story as she spoke shortly after equaling a personal best score of 67 in the final round at Bear’s Best Las Vegas. — By Brian Hurlburt.
“Wow,” Booth said, while taking a moment to contemplate the question about what is the first thing that came to her mind about winning a major. “Every golfer knows how difficult it is to shoot a personal best score or to shoot a great score, in general, but to do it in a pressure-filled tournament setting makes it extra special.”
Booth, a 3 handicap, got hot with the putter over the final nine or 10 holes and was inspired to the victory by her confidence in the flat stick. She also improved her second-round score by 11 shots over round one, when she shot a 78. She won by eight shots.
Sherry Jackson finished second with rounds of 77-76 while Ronda Henderson was third at 77-76.
“I made a great par save on the 9th hole and then birdied 10, 11 and 12,” Booth said. “I really got some confidence in the putter after that par on nine. Lately, I have been hitting my wedges very well and also putting it well and it showed in this tournament.”
Salini King, 72, and a member at Bear’s Best, used her home course knowledge, a new TaylorMade putter and patience to win the net division.
“It was great and I loved it,” King, a 13.8 handicap, said about the victory. “It was great that I was able to compete at my age against the younger players. I just happened to manage my game a little better than the others this week. I told myself before the tournament that I needed to not get ahead of myself, stay composed and really focus on the proper club selections. Also, I had to stay within my game and not try to out hit the long hitters that I played against.”
Player Handicap Scores
Booth, Diane 3 78 67 145
Jackson, Sherry 11 77 76 153
Henderson, Ronda 13 78 77 155
Whatley, Brittany 15 79 78 157
Ruelas, Amy 17 84 75 159
Quintero, Regina 18 83 77 160
Love, Debbie 20 80 82 162
Smith, Laura 22 80 84 164
Kicker, Raeann 26 80 88 168
Beckel, Rusty 26 81 87 168
Oh, Jackie 28 88 82 170
King, Sailini 28 85 85 170
Herness, Karen 29 91 80 171
Lee, Hyun 30 91 81 172
Prospero, Theresa 30 88 84 172
Guetersloh, Chris 31 82 91 173
Kwon, Jessica 32 91 83 174
Kaili, Monica 32 93 81 174
Choi, Julia 33 87 88 175
Lee, Lisa 34 93 83 176
Chow, Gail 36 92 86 178
Wright, Patty 36 87 91 178
Net Scores
Player
King, Sailini -2 70 70 140
Lee, Hyun 2 77 67 144
Biehl, Ruby 4 73 73 146
Kicker, Raeann 4 69 77 146
Beckel, Rusty 4 70 76 146
Choi, Julia 5 73 74 147
Davis-Schilling, Penny 6 74 74 148
Sturm, Ingrid 6 74 74 148
Geddes, Fay 6 74 74 148
Kwon, Jessica 8 79 71 150
Crabb, Soyoung 10 74 78 152
Chow, Gail 12 80 74 154
Buonacorsi, Gabriele 14 79 77 156
Heo, Clara 15 82 75 157
