GOLF, Ill. (July 19, 2019) – Maria Bohorquez, Brook Tyree, Antonia Matte, and Sarah Shipley punched their tickets to the semifinal matches in the 119th Women’s Western Amateur at Royal Melbourne Country Club.
Bohorquez of Bogota, Columbia, No. 8 seed, defeated No. 17 Caroline Wrigley of Wexford, Pennsylvania, 5 and 4 Friday afternoon.
Earlier Friday morning, Wrigley upset the No. 1 seed, stroke-play medalist Ela Belen Anacona 3 and 4.
Bohorquez noted how important it was for her to stay hydrated through 90-plus-degree weather.
“Since this morning, my caddie and I have been preparing for the heat,” said Bohorquez, 17. “It was really humid, but I think we managed it well.”
Bohorquez credited her caddie, Andres Echavarria, a golfer on the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica, for some of her success. He has played in the Western Golf Association’s Western Junior and Western Amateur championships.
“I’ve learned a lot from him,” said Bohorquez, a high school junior. “We share the same swing coach. He teaches me a lot about course management.”
Bohorquez said her strategy was to play aggressively to win her second match and advance to the semifinals.
“I want to keep up the way I’ve been playing,” she said. “I hope to keep my strategy and my patience.”
Shipley, of Hastings, Michigan, defeated first-round leader Julie Houston of Allen, Texas, 2 up.
“With college golf, I was used to playing 36-hole rounds,” said Shipley, 21, a senior at the University of Kentucky. “Once I get to 2 up, I feel pretty confident. I love match play.”
Tyree, of Sulphur, Louisiana, defeated last year’s finalist, Tristyn Nowlin, of Richmond, Kentucky, 1 up.
“I haven’t sweated this much in a long time,” said Tyree, a sophomore at Texas A&M. “It’s hotter here than in Louisiana.”
For tomorrow, Tyree’s plan is to keep up her good play and stay calm. “If I lose and I play well, it’s not a big deal to me,” said Tyree, 19. “I would just want the other girl to win.”
No. 3 Matte of Santiago, Chile defeated No. 11 Daphne Chao of New York, New York, 5 and 3.
Matte, 16, a junior in high school, expressed how hot the conditions were today.
“I drank a lot of water in between holes and shots,” she said. “My approach shots to the green were good today, but I wasn’t making putts.”
Matte hopes to continue hitting greens in regulation for the rest of the tournament.
The first semifinal match Saturday will be Boroquez and Tyree at 7 a.m. Following that match, Shipley and Matte will square off at 7:08 a.m. The championship match will follow at the conclusion of the two semifinals.
Contestants from 30 states and 12 countries entered the tournament this week vying for the W. A. Alexander Cup, which was first presented in 1901 in honor of his wife Maude Alexander, the first president of the Women’s Western Golf Association.
The list of past champions spans more than a century, from legendary stars Patty Berg (1938, 1946, 1947), Nancy Lopez (1976), Beth Daniel (1978) and Cristie Kerr (1994) to modern stars such as Brittany Lang (2003), Stacy Lewis (2006) and Ariya Jutanugarn (2012).