McCullough Birdies Final Hole to Win MGA Women's Mid-Amateur in New Prague

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By Nick Hunter
nick@mngolf.org


  NEW PRAGUE, Minn. – While playing college golf at the University of Minnesota, Paige McCullough said one of the most important lessons she learned was to always follow up a negative with a positive.

Surrendering a slim lead with a three-putt for double-bogey at the 17th hole Monday at New Prague Golf Club, McCullough rolled in her birdie putt from 25 feet on the final hole to earn a one-shot victory at the 2017 Minnesota Golf Association Mid-Amateur Championship.

“Even if you make a bogey, you need to follow it up with a good drive or get yourself in position to capitalize on some positive momentum and that was my mindset on 18,” McCullough said. “On 17 I had the double-bogey—I hit a flyer lie to the exact wrong side of the green and showed my mid-am prowess and I three-putted. From there just get yourself on the green and get a putt at it and try to make a birdie.

“How I judge myself these days is how I finish and how I bounce back from adversity or bad shots because I know they’re going to happen. This gives me a lot of momentum going into the U.S. Mid-Am qualifier. It showed me what I need to work on. The positive that I take away is that mentally, I stayed in it and didn’t crumble, which is nice.”

McCullough began the final round two shots back of Herrick after carding a 1-over par 73 to open the championship Sunday and would six consecutive pars before dropping a shot at the par-3 seventh with her first bogey of the day. She bounced right back by sinking her birdie putt from six feet at the par-4 eighth and would turn at even par for the day, one shot back of Herrick.

“I played a little more conservative yesterday and thought of it as playing match play,” McCullough said. “I was two down going into the first hole and that helped me focus right away and hit some more aggressive shots.

“[Stewart and Herrick] were both 1-over after nine and I was even so it started getting even tighter. Lucky enough, I was hitting my driver pretty straight, had some short irons in to capitalize on some birdies.”

Over the par-5 11th in two, McCullough missed a short birdie putt to pull even with Herrick but continued her steady play with two-putt pars on her next four holes.

Rolling her approach to the back of the green at the 15th, McCullough’s long and double-breaking birdie putt found the cup to pull one shot clear of Herrick after she made bogey at the 14th.

“It was a double-breaker downhill and I felt really comfortable with what I thought the line was going to ultimately do. It hit center cup and went right in and it was great momentum carrying into 16. It’s difficult driving hole—it sets up for that fade, but there’s also water there.”

McCullough’s approach at the dogleg 17th rolled into the second cut behind the green where she chose to putt, but managed to leave her third eight feet above the hole. Rolling her par putt three feet past, McCullough missed her bogey putt as well to take a double-bogey, handing Herrick a one-shot lead going to the final hole.

“I was going back-and-forth between putting and chipping,” McCullough said of her decision to putt from the second cut leading to double-bogey at 17. “In hindsight what I should’ve done was instead of trying to make it, make sure that I put it past the hole to give myself an uphill putt coming back.”

Herrick’s approach at 18 missed the green right and her third rolled six feet past the flag, while McCullough’s second found the green left of the flag and she would bury her birdie chance from 25 feet, forcing Herrick to make par to go to extra holes. Herrick’s putt hung on the edge of the cup, but refused to drop to give McCullough a one-stroke victory.

McCullough is a three-time winner of the Northland Invitational, winning consecutive championships from 2013 to 2015. In 2013 she also claimed the MGA Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Midland Hills Country Club.

A disappointing finish at the 2017 MGA Women’s Amateur on the difficult greens at Northland Country Club two weeks ago had Herrick second-guessing her putting abilities prior to the tournament this week.

“I came away thinking, ‘Am I a good putter?’ But I put a lot of work in this week and felt really confident on these greens,” she said. She bounced right back Sunday and played one of her best rounds of the year to begin the championship, carding one bogey with two birdies on the back nine to pace the field at 1-under par 71.

Herrick holed a 15-foot birdie chance at the par-4 fourth to increase her lead over McCullough and Stewart early Monday, but found the sand twice on the front nine, leading to a pair of bogeys. She would save par after finding the sand at the par-5 11th, but would struggle with her putter over the final nine holes, leaving three birdie putts over her final four holes short of the cup.

“I had some [putts] right in the heart, short—I’m always leaving putts a little short and probably need to work on getting them to the hole more,” she said. “I tend to be someone who, if it’s going to go in, it’s going to roll gently over the front lip. Obviously you can’t make any birdies if you don’t get the ball to the hole."

After leaving her birdie putt short at the 15th, Herrick hit a wayward drive at the 16th, nearly finding the water right of the fairway before punching her second within six feet of the flag, two-putting for par.

“I was partially in the hazard, took one club up and hit a three-quarter shot that ran up there nicely. I wish I could’ve converted that to make it a really good hole,” Herrick said of her spectacular recovery.

An opportunity to take a two-shot lead slipped away from Herrick at the 17th when her birdie putt from 15 feet stopped a foot short of the cup. She tapped in for par, while McCullough’s double-bogey gave Herrick the lead momentarily.

Needing to sink a six-footer for par to force a playoff after McCullough’s long birdie putt, Herrick again left her putt on the edge of the cup to card a final-round 75 and finish tied for second with Stewart at 2-over par 146.

“I feel like I scored as poorly as I could have given how I feel like I’m hitting the ball right now. That was disappointing,” Herrick said after her round Monday. “I had a couple errant short irons and then, obviously, to leave that putt on the last hole—it was half over the hole—that hurts.

“I’m happy for Paige. If you’re going to win it, that’s the way to win it. That was a great putt.”