CAREFREE, Ariz. -- Meghan Bolger successfully defended her
U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur title Thursday, parring the 18th hole to
beat Kerry Postillion 1 up at Desert Forest Golf Club.
The 29-year-old Bolger, from Haddonfield, N.J., joined Sarah
LeBrun Ingram (1993-94) and Ellen Port (1996-96) as the only
players to win consecutive title in the 21-year history of the
championship.
"It's an absolute wonderful feeling," Bolger said. "After
last year, you don't know what to say, and then to go back to back
and defend ... there is a little pressure, and I tried not to put
that on myself. I'm just absolutely ecstatic right now."
The 44-year-old Postillion, a Desert Forest member from Burr
Ridge, Ill., took a 2-up lead with a par on the par-4 sixth, but
Bolger countered with a birdie on the par-4 seventh and tied it
with a par on the par-3 eighth.
Bolger took the lead with a birdie on the par-4 10th, and
Postillion squared it with a par on the par-3 12th. Bolger took the
lead again with a par on the par-4 15th, but Postillion pulled even
again with a par on the par-5 16th.
On No. 18, Postillion drove into the left rough and she hit her
210-yard approach shot into a greenside bunker. Her sand shot
sailed over the green and her fourth shot didn't make it back up to
the green.
"I didn't catch enough sand," Postillion said. "It was an
uphill slope. The bunkers here don't have a lot of sand and if you
catch it a little thin, there it goes."
Bolger, with a 30-footer for birdie, stroked her putt within a
foot. Postillion then conceded the hole and the match.
Postillion also finished second in 1996 and 2005. Despite the
loss, she took away positive memories of the week, particularly
playing in front of her fellow club members at Desert Forest.
"It was great support," Postillion said. "Everybody was so
nice. It was really fun having them around and have people pulling
for you. That was really special. It's too bad I just couldn't get
quite through that last hole."