2024 Women's Amateur Day 3 Recap
Tolentino Wins the 88th Pennsylvania Women's Amateur
PAOLI, Pa. – It was like a heavyweight slugfest in the final group at the 88th Pennsylvania Golf Association (PAGA) Women’s Amateur, as Jericho National Golf Club’s Natasha Kiel and The 1912 Club’s Angelina Tolentino went back-and-forth all day long with the 2024 championship on the line.
Kiel, who is a senior on the golf team at Purdue University, held a two-stroke advantage over fellow final group golfers Tolentino (who will be a freshman on Vanderbilt’s women’s golf team) and Jackie Rogowicz (Merion GC) heading into today, but Tolentino quickly erased the lead and claimed it for herself after birdies on the first four holes.
“I felt so good,” said Tolentino. “My whole game was pretty much on point, from the putting to the driver to the tee shots, everything was solid today which I’m really thankful for. Starting off with four birdies is always nice and I just had momentum from there and stuck to it.”
Kiel, on the other hand, started a bit slow with a bogey on hole No. 2, but began to ramp up with birdies on 3 and 5.
“I put myself in a bad spot with the bogey on 2,” said Kiel. “While (Tolentino) and Jackie were making birdie after birdie and I said “Wow! When am I going to see some of that?” But I really focused on staying patient, hitting the shots I know I can hit, and getting to a point where I was back in contention.”
On the back nine, Kiel birdied 10 and 11 to catch Tolentino and tie at eight-under-par for the tournament, and the two were also tied there after 15 holes complete. Kiel made bogey on the par-four 16th, though, while Tolentino’s par gave her a one-stroke lead with two holes left to play. After two pars on 17, the pair only had the18th hole left to play.
“I didn’t look at the leaderboard once so I didn’t know where I was at coming into the 18th hole,” said Tolentino. “But I knew Natasha and Jackie and I were all close so I decided to stick to my gameplan and not get too ahead of myself.”
Tolentino’s tee shot on 18 was on the left side of the fairway but she laid up, got it to a comfortable yardage, and used a 9 iron to get her about 10 feet from the hole for birdie. The ensuing putt lipped out, though, and Tolentino's par gave Kiel a slight opening.
Kiel, knowing that she had to make something happen, hit a string of excellent shots and ended up with an 8-foot birdie putt to tie and force a playoff. Just like Tolentino's putt, though, it just lipped out—resulting in a par for Kiel and confirming Tolentino as the 2024 PA Women's Amateur champion.
“I thought I hit the putt really good,” recalled Kiel. “But I guess I just didn’t see as much break as there was. Sometimes those things just happen. I hit it where I wanted to hit it but it just didn’t go in. It was a great day, though. Angelina and I both put up such a fight against each other, it was really incredible. I know she’ll be a great player in college.”
With the victory, Tolentino also secures a spot in the upcoming 2024 124th annual U.S. Women’s Amateur Golf Championship, scheduled for Aug. 5-11 at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.
“The last time I played in the US Women’s Amateur was in 2021 up in New York, and I’ve been trying to get back into the tournament ever since,” said Tolentino. “Even this year, I went down to Maryland to play but never had my “A” game in those one-day qualifiers. So to come out and get a win today at this tournament feels great and I’m really proud of myself.”
Tolentino finished the tournament eight-under-par (70-73-68—211) while it was déjà vu for Kiel (73-68-71—212) who finished one stroke back and was PA Amateur runner-up for the second consecutive year.
The other member of the final group trio, Rogowicz, shot even-par 73 in the final round to finish solidly in third place and was three-under par for the tournament with a 54-hole total of 216. Megan Meng (Jericho National GC) fired a one-under 72 on the final day to end up with fourth place honors—her combined 218 (-1) was one stroke better than Michelle Cox (Lehigh CC), whose even-par 219 earned her a fifth-place finish.
Defending champion Rylie Heflin (Bidermann GC), a Duke University golfer, came alive on the final day with a four-under 69 (the lowest of the day except for Tolentino’s round) and finished sixth with a four-over-par total of 223 for the week. Kiersten Bodge (Overbrook GC), the leader after Monday’s first round, finished ninth with a seven-over-par 226.
Next up on the PAGA schedule is the 111th Amateur Championship at Huntingdon Valley Country Club, scheduled for next Monday, July 29-31.
The Pennsylvania Golf Association would like to thank the staff and membership of Waynesborough Country Club for the hospitality shown during today’s final round, with additional thanks going to DICK’S Sporting Goods for sponsorship of the event.