NEW ORLEANS - ULM rising
sophomore Ali Lucas defeated top-seeded Heather Lott 1-up to win the Louisiana
Women's Golf Association (LWGA) Amateur Championship on Wednesday at TPC
Louisiana in New Orleans.
Lucas, who was seeded third in
the event, led the Warhawks with a 78.5 stroke average over 29 rounds last year
as a true freshman. She advanced to the championship match of the LWGA Amateur
Championship after she defeated Samford University junior Anna Heim 4-and-3 on
Tuesday.
"It is pretty exciting to win
this event, but more exciting because I know the competition I played against
was extremely good," Lucas said. "I have been working really hard this summer
on my putting and I knew after my first season at ULM that I would have to make
more putts if I wanted to start winning tournaments."
Lucas, who defeated 2010
champion Elise Bradley 3-and-2 in the quarterfinals, needed just one putt on 10
of her 15 holes in the semifinals and only had 29 putts over 18 holes in her
championship round.
"I am so proud of Ali," ULM
head coach Ashley Tonore said. "She has worked really hard this summer and
winning the Louisiana Amateur Championship is quite an accomplishment. Ali
started playing really strong towards the end of the year and has been putting
the ball really well. We are looking for some great things from Ali this
upcoming season."
Lott, who turned in the
second-lowest stroke average at the University of Kentucky this past season, won
the first two holes of the championship match. Lucas carded a birdie on six to
pull within one hole, but carried a two-hole deficit into the back nine after
dropping the eighth hole.
Lucas began her charge to the
championship on the par-four 10th hole with a chip in for birdie.
She squared the match on the very next hole before sinking a 5-foot putt on
number 13 to take the lead for good. Lucas pushed her lead out to two holes
with a par on 15, but Lott got the hole back on 17 to set up a dramatic 18th
hole.
"It was pretty nerve racking,"
Lucas said. "I missed my practice round and had only played 18 once and that
was back on Sunday. Heather's birdie putt lipped out and I had a one-and-a-half
foot tap in to win - normally that wouldn't be a stressful putt, but today that
wasn't the case."
Success at the state level is
not something new for the product of Notre Dame High School. Lucas won the 2008
and 2009 Louisiana District II State Championship and the 2009 and 2010 High
School All-Star Classic Tournament. Playing for the boy's team, Lucas helped
lead Notre Dame to the state championship while finishing third as an
individual her senior year.
