Her cool-under-pressure performance on the final seven holes Monday left no doubt Kelowna‘s Samantha Richdale is ready to tee off in the big league.
Not only did the 25-year-old golfer come from behind to win the Turkey Hill Classic in Harrisburg, Pa., in a playoff, but, more importantly, she garnered full-time status on the 2010 LPGA Tour.
Carding three birdies on the final four holes on the way to a 4-under-68 and finishing the 54-hole tournament at 10-under-par 206, Richdale earned a sudden-death playoff win on the first extra hole against Amanda Mathis of Opelousas, La. It was her second win of the season and third during a four-season career on the Futures Tour.
The first-place prize money of $15,400 boosted her season earnings to $54,391 and into fourth place in the season standings. With sixth-place Angela Buzminski of Oshawa sitting at $35,713 and with only $15,000 available for first place in the final Futures event of the season in Albany, N.Y., Richdale is guaranteed at least the fifth-and-final spot for LPGA exemption.
“It‘s exciting and a big relief not to have to go to Q-school to earn by card,” said Richdale in a telephone interview on Monday. “The competition on this tour is extremely good, so I‘m proud to be among the top five.”
A graduate of Kelowna Secondary School and Illinois State University who honed her skills as a member of the Kelowna Golf and Country Club, Richdale admitted earning her exemption was an unlikely outcome.
“It was a goal to finish in the top five at the beginning of the season, but to be honest I didn‘t think it would really happen. But after winning my first tournament early on I began to believe that it was possible.
“Still, it meant playing well all season long and putting pressure on myself on every putt to try to finish near the top in each tournament.
Richdale said it didn‘t look promising early Monday that she would be able to put herself in a position to win in Harrisburg.
Pulled off the course on the 11th hole Sunday because of rain, Richdale got of to a “shaky start.” She missed a four-foot putt for par on the 12th hole, three-putted the 13th and couldn‘t cup what she figured was a relatively easy 10-foot putt for a birdie on the 14th.
“At that point I was worried about how things were going,” said Richdale. “But then it started to change for me.”
She sank a seven-foot putt on the 15th green for the first of three straight birdies. She followed with a 15-footer on the 16th and a 30-foot putt on the next hole to go from four strokes back to the top of the leaderboard. She was playing one pairing in front of the lead group that included leading money winner Mina Harigae, who had led by three strokes going into the final day of play.
While Harigae struggled, Mathis birdied the 15th hole to pull into a three-way tie for the lead with Richdale and Harigae at 9-under. She then dropped a 10-foot birdie putt on the 180-yard, par-3 17th to join Richdale at 10-under.
“This is my first time playing in the final group and being in contention in a tournament like this,” Mathis told Andrew Shay of the Harrisburg Patriot News.
“I stepped up and I was pleased. I made three birdies on the back nine coming in. I did what I could do,” added Mathis, who posted her career-best finish and moved from 58th to 23rd on the money list thanks to an $11,000 second-place cheque.”
In the playoff, Richdale hit a poor tee shot, and her approach from the left rough came up short. Mathis was 105-yards away in the fairway, but also came up short.
There was a gust of wind as Mathis‘ ball headed straight for the pin. In the air, her shot looked good. Then it appeared to hit a wall.
“I thought (Mathis) hit it well at first and ended up just a little short. It was a lucky situation for me,” Richdale told the Patriot News after hitting to within eight inches of the cup and an eventual tap-in victory.
“Out of all my experience I realize I hit (chip shots) too short when I get nervous. I wanted to make sure I didn‘t do that this time. Thank goodness it was a tap-in.”
Mathis‘ approach shot ended up in a tricky lie with sand all around the ball. Her chip didn‘t run out as much as she expected and she was left with a six footer. She couldn‘t sink it to force another extra hole.
“I had a wedge there. You have to get that on the green,” Mathis said. “The wind wasn‘t up when I was hitting, but I felt it when the ball was in the air. You can‘t blame it on that. I was in between clubs and chose the shorter one and hit it pure.”
Although she‘ll have to wait for the 2010 schedule to be finalized to find out where she begins her first full season, Richdale will play in an LPGA event this weekend in Portland, Ore. She was given an exemption to the Safeway Classic, due in part, she says, to a family connection.
“I wrote them earlier this year explaining that I had worked at Safeway and that my mom had worked there as well, so I guess they thought that was pretty neat.” Top of Page
