Tommie Teammates Davies and Foley Hang on to Win MGA Women's Four-Ball

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  FARIBAULT, Minn. – Chipping in for birdie on the 36th hole Tuesday, secured a two-stroke victory for University of St. Thomas teammates Emma Davies and Katie Foley, shooting 4-under 140 at Faribault Golf Club to claim the 2023 Minnesota Golf Association Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship.

Davies and Foley edged fellow Tommie teammates Isabelle Lynch and Courtney Wedin, as well as Minnesota State University-Mankato golfers Anna Cihak and Samantha Youngquist to earn their first state championship wins.

"It feels great going into the next few weeks as my college season approaches, and it’s really cool to win with my teammate, roommate and good friend,” Foley said following the win Tuesday. “I’ve been trying to get a win for a while and kind of struggled with my game over the past year, so I think I’m seeing things starting to come together more."

“We both put so much time and effort into our game, that it finally all came together was pretty fun,” said Davies.

Davies started the scoring during the final round by sinking her birdie chance from six feet at the par-5 third, moving her and Foley to 7-under for the championship.

Taking advantage of the final par-5 on the front side, Davies and Foley both recorded birdie, extending their lead to six heading to their final nine holes.

“Going into it knowing we were up, we still wanted to go out and have fun, keep up the hard work,” Foley said. “I was hitting a lot more greens on the front nine. Things weren’t necessarily dropping, but I had stress-free two-putts.”

But what plagued the two during their opening round Monday, followed them to the second round Tuesday as Davies and Foley struggled to find fairways and greens, magnified by a double-bogey at the 12th.

Davies and Foley continued to watch their lead shrink, playing their next five holes in 3-over, carrying a one-stroke advantage to the final hole.

“We struggled on the same holes and we struggled at the same time,” Foley said. “We were still just trying to encourage each other. We knew going into the last hole that we needed a par to win the event.”

Missing the final green short-left with her third, Davies’ chip from 25 feet found the bottom of the cup to close out the championship with a final-round 74 for a two-stroke victory.

“I just had to get it close—I told myself to put it within four or five feet,” Davies said of her tournament-clinching final shot.

Improving on a third-place finish at Monticello Country Club last season, Davies and Foley both earn a state win for the first time in their amateur careers.

“We haven’t seen each other a lot this summer and we don’t usually play in events like this together,” Davies said. “We played well yesterday, and wanted to repeat that, but at the same time, we were looking to just have an easy, stress-free round.”

Fellow Tommie teammates Lynch and Wedin bounced back from a 1-over 73 during Monday’s opening round by firing a bogey-free 3-under 69 Tuesday to earn a share of second at 2-under 142.

The two started quickly with three birdies over their first five holes to move within four shots of the lead, but were unable to card another birdie over their last 13 holes to finish two shots back.

Beginning their final round six shots off the lead, Minnesota State University-Mankato teammates Anna Cihak and Samantha Youngquist played the first nine holes of their second round in 1-under, but made a late push with an eagle at the 15th, followed by a birdie at the 16th to pull within one shot of the lead.

Jovie Ordal and Lily Vincelli entered the final round two shots off the lead thanks to a 4-under 68 to open the championship Monday, but were unable to put any round numbers on the scorecard Tuesday.

The two would card four bogeys during their final round to shoot 4-over 76 to finish in fourth place at even par 144.