Mission No. 1 accomplished.
Both teams with strong Colorado ties competing in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship made match play — and did it with ease.
Colorado State University teammates Katrina Prendergast and Ellen Secor picked up on Sunday where they left off on Saturday and finished tied for sixth in the stroke-play portion of the event at El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana, Calif.
And Colorado residents Charlotte Hillary of Cherry Hills Village and Hailey Schalk of Erie placed 15th out of the 64 teams in the field. (The Coloradans are pictured, with Schalk at left.)
The top 32 teams after two days of stroke play advance to match play, with the round of 32 set for Monday.
Prendergast and Secor, who went to the round of 16 in this event last year, played their last 12 holes on Saturday in 5 under par. Then on Sunday, they shot a 5-under-par 67, leaving them at 7-under 137 overall in the better-ball event. Annick Haczkiewicz and Sydney Smith of Las Vegas earned medalist honors at 134. Smith will play her college golf at CSU.
In round 2, Prendergast and Secor made an eagle, four birdies and a bogey. They were 5 under par in the final four holes of the front nine.
Meanwhile, Hillary and Schalk are making the most of getting a spot in the national championship after originally being alternates.
The two Colorado high school sophomores — Hillary at Kent Denver and Schalk at Holy Family — carded their second straight 2-under-par 70 on Sunday, though this one had more ups and downs. After going bogey-free on Saturday, they had an eagle (on the 335-yard, par-4 fifth hole), three birdies and three bogeys on Sunday.
Schalk was the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado’s Girls Player of the Year in 2017. Hillary qualified for the U.S. Girls’ Junior last year. And both players were among those who represented Colorado in the Girls Junior America’s Cup.
For all the scores from the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, CLICK HERE.
