As she accepted her glass trophy after winning the CWGA Brassie Championship for the fourth time, Janet Moore noted that the trick to winning team titles is “picking good partners.”

While the Colorado Golf Hall of Famer from Cherry Hills Country Club meant that as a compliment to her teammate this weekend — Metro State University of Denver golfer Allie Johnston — picking good partners certainly works both ways.

With Saturday’s victory at Spring Valley Golf Club in Elizabeth, Moore claimed her 19th CWGA championship. And while she’s best known for winning the CWGA Stroke Play a remarkable five times in the 1990s, also impressive is that she has 14 CWGA two-person team titles to her credit. Besides her four Brassie championships, she’s claimed seven wins in the CWGA Mashie, and three in the now-defunct CGA/CWGA Mixed Championship.

The bottom line is, a golfer could do a heck of a lot worse than partnering with Moore in a team event.

No doubt Johnston, a former CWGA Match Play champ, foresaw the possibilities because it was her idea to email Moore asking if she was available for the Brassie. (Moore missed last year’s tournament.) And with Moore’s longtime tournament partner and fellow Colorado Golf Hall of Famer, Christie Austin, defending her Brassie title this year with University of Colorado golfer Tori Glenn, Moore took Johnston up on her offer. (The two are pictured above and at left.)

And, predictably, the top of the Brassie leaderboard had the names Janet Moore and Christie Austin right at or near the top, though this time not together. After having paired up for nine CWGA titles — six Mashies and three Brassies — these last two years each has won the Brassie with other partners.

“It does feel different but it’s fun,” said the 51-year-old Moore, who coached the Wheaton College women’s golf team in Illinois the last four seasons before departing in the spring. “I love playing with different people. But it is a little bit awkward just because (Christie and I) have played so many times together. But I love playing with Allie. It was so much fun and she hits such a nice ball and she’s such a great player.”

On Saturday, after outstanding rounds by both teams, Moore and Johnson prevailed by two over runners-up Austin and Glenn (left). With each team recording six best-ball birdies on the day, Moore and Johnston closed with a 5-under-par 67 in the four-ball stroke-play event, while Austin and Glenn carded a 66 — 10 strokes better than their first-round total.

“We had a good day and they had a good day,” said Austin, winner of five Brassies overall. “We just had too bad of a day yesterday.”

With Moore making four birdies en route to a 70 on her own ball Saturday and Johnston carding three birdies — including a 4-footer on No. 18 — they finished with a 4-under-par 140 total.

“It was fun. We had a great time,” said Johnston, who won her fourth CWGA title, having previously captured the 2011 Junior Stroke Play, 2012 Match Play and the 2012 Mashie with Claudia Davis.

Runners-up Austin and Glenn checked in at 142 on Saturday, with CU golfers Gillian Vance and Allie Zech, the first-round leaders, placing third at 143 after a 71 on Saturday.

For Johnston (left), she is starting to return to form after a tough couple of years health-wise. The Castle Rock resident said she was sick much of 2013 and didn’t compete in any tournaments. Then last year, she underwent gall bladder surgery, hernia surgery and foot surgery all within a period of about eight months.

But, as was the case in the 2012 Mashie, Johnston won the Brassie in her first time playing the event.

“It’s really impressive how she’s playing after being injured,” Moore said.

As for Austin and Glenn, they turned things around in a big way on Saturday after putting themselves behind the 8 ball with Friday’s 76. In round 2, Glenn made six birdies on her own ball, and Austin carded pars on the three holes Glenn was over par.

“(Tori) was a birdie machine,” Austin said. “And whenever she was in trouble, I made par. It was pretty easy today. We were happy to be in the hunt.”

Said Glenn: “It was fun. This tournament is always fun.”

For the scores from all seven flights, CLICK HERE.
 

Kimberly Kim, who later would play golf for the University of Denver, made history by winning the U.S. Women’s Amateur at age 14 in 2006.

What Morgan Sahm of Centennial accomplished on Monday certainly isn’t in that league, but when a 14-year-old even qualifies for a USGA championship that’s open to all ages, it’s still quite a feat.

Sahm, who won’t be a freshman in high school until the fall, earned one of four available spots in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship in qualifying held Monday at Spring Valley Golf Club in Elizabeth.

“It’s definitely awesome,” said Sahm (pictured above), who’s just in her fourth year playing golf. “This means a lot. It kind of does (surprise me), but I work really hard. I just hope I can continue playing this well this year.”

Sahm shot a 5-over-par 77 to share third place out of Monday’s qualifying field, which was reduced to 16 by three withdrawals. She’ll be joined at the national Women’s Publinks by qualifying medalist Kayla Riede of Dixon, Calif. (74), Jennifer Yang of Seattle (76) and former Coloradan Lindsay McGetrick (77).

The U.S. WAPL will be played June 18-23 in Neshanic, N.J. Riede and Yang will be going to the national tournament for the second time, while McGetrick and Sahm will be making their U.S. Women’s Publinks debut.

It should be noted that all of the other three qualifiers are college golfers — Riede (pictured at left with USGA official Bob Austin) goes to the University of Tulsa, Yang to the University of Washington and McGetrick to North Carolina State — while Sahm won’t start high school at Grandview until the fall.

On Monday, McGetrick and Sahm prevailed in a three-person playoff for the final two national berths. It looked like Sahm was going to be the odd player out when she mis-hit her opening drive in sudden death and ended up about 100 yards short of both McGetrick and Paige Crawford of Colorado Springs.

McGetrick advanced with a routine par on the hole, and when Sahm came up short with her approach on the par-4 and later missed an 8-foot par putt, it opened the door for Crawford. But the Montana State golfer couldn’t convert her 3-foot par putt and she and Sahm moved on to the par-3 second hole.

There, both players hit their tee balls into the front bunker, and Crawford’s sand shot ran 15 feet past the pin. Sahm cozied her bunker shot to within a foot, and after Crawford missed, Sahm earned the final national berth with a tap-in par.

“Every time I’m in a playoff, I lose, so I thought, ‘It’s OK, another loss,'” said Sahm, who went 2 under par in her last four holes of regulation to force a playoff. “I honestly thought I was going to lose to Paige.”

McGetrick, whose father Mike is an acclaimed golf instructor, grew up in Highlands Ranch but now lives with her family in South Carolina. However, she continues to make her mark in Colorado. During her time in the state, she won the 2010 CWGA Junior Match Play Championship and the 2011 4A state high school title, and she made it to match play at the 2010 U.S. Girls’ Junior.

Monday marked a visit back to Colorado to visit friends, as well as a last week packed full of tournaments — the HealthOne Colorado Women’s Open at Green Valley Ranch, the U.S. Women’s Open qualifying at the Broadmoor, and the U.S. WAPL qualifying at Spring Valley.

And while she missed the cut in the Colorado’s Women’s Open and finished in the middle of the pack in the U.S. Women’s Open qualifying, McGetrick isn’t leaving the state without another USGA championship berth.

“It was an exciting way to end things,” she said of Monday’s playoff. “I’m glad I came through and was able to make it. It’s definitely an accomplishment. I’m excited to be able to qualify.”

Riede played the same trio of Colorado tournaments as McGetrick did. In her case, it worked out nicely as a weeklong stopover in the Centennial State on her drive back home to Dixon, Calif., from Tulsa, Okla.

“I’ve been here for a while,” Riede said, noting that she also played an NCAA regional tournament at Colorado National Golf Club in Erie last month.

Yang, meanwhile, is spending the summer in Colorado with her Korean-born parents and her brother, Andy Yang, who plays golf for the University of Denver.

U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Sectional Qualifying
At Par-72 Spring Valley GC in Elizabeth

Qualified for U.S. WAPL
Kayla Riede, Dixon, Calif. 39-35–74
Jennifer Yang, Seattle, Wash. 38-38–76
Lindsay McGetrick, Highlands Ranch, Colo. 37-40–77
Morgan Sahm, Centennial, Colo. 40-37–77

Alternates (in order)
Paige Crawford, Colorado Springs, Colo. 38-39–77
Allie Johnston, Castle Rock, Colo. 41-38–79

Failed to Qualify
Katherine Scott, Cherry Hills Village, Colo. 39-40–79
Molly Dorans, Erie, Colo. 41-39–80
Katie Kim, Riverwoods, Ill. 40-40–80
Patricia Lee, Highlands Ranch, Colo. 37-44–81
Maren Scoggins, Denver, Colo. 40-42–82
Hannah Wood, Centennial, Colo. 43-39–82
Bryce Schroeder, Pueblo, Colo. 39-44–83
Jennifer Kempton, Littleton, Colo. 44-40–84
Jodie Streeter, Englewood, Colo. 45-43–88
Jennifer Hocking, Colorado Springs, Colo. 45-45–90
Taylor Buck, Littleton, Colo. WD
Tori Glenn, Castle Rock, Colo. WD