BATH —- No lead is safe in the game of golf, and some of the sport’s best players — Phil Mickelson, Greg Norman and John Van de Velde — know that all too well.
Kristin Kannegieser entered the final round of the 80th WMSGA championship at Bath Country Club on Wednesday up two shots over Mary Brandes and seven over Deb Gardner, but one of those players was bound to make a charge.
Belgrade Country Club’s Gardner did make quite a surge with a 3-over par 73, but it wasn’t enough, as Martindale CC’s Kannegieser carded a 6-over 76 to hold on for a four-shot victory and her second WMSGA crown with a three-day total of 227 to Gardner’s 231.
Brandes, of the Woodlands in Falmouth, finished eight strokes off the pace at 235, shooting her second straight 81, while Bangor Municipal GC’s Jennifer Weiland was fourth at 236 with Norway CC’s Leslie Guenther rounding out the top five at 241.
Bucksport GC’s Whitney Hand, competing in her first tourney in three weeks, finished a solid sixth at 250.
Gardner put all kinds of pressure on Kannegieser, making things interesting with a 1-over 37 on the front nine to head to the final nine holes five shots back.
Kannegieser had every reason to feel a tad apprehensive as Gardner was driving the ball well, making putts and limiting mistakes.
“Did you notice? Deb has all the shots … she can fade the ball, draw the ball, and I knew seven strokes might not be enough,” said Kannegieser, who also won this tournament in 2007. “You saw it, she didn’t miss a putt, her stroke was beautiful.”
After both Kannegieser and Gardner opened the back nine with a par and double bogey, Gardner drew within four with a birdie at the par-4 12th, and closed within three after a bogey at the 14th, which Kannegieser double-bogeyed after hitting her approach shot left of the green and out of bounds.
“I was in thick rough [off the tee] and I probably took too much club,” Kannegieser said.
Gardner made things even more exciting with a birdie at the 15th, taking advantage of a tailwind and sticking a pitching wedge within eight feet of the pin.
That hole had been a thorn in Gardner’s side all week.
“The hole that’s been bothering me is 15, and the wind was downwind today [so] instead of hitting a 5-wood in I hit a pitching wedge in and that makes a big difference, and I was able to make birdie,” Gardner said.
While Gardner had to keep attacking pins to give herself a chance, Kannegieser remained consistent and out of trouble, parring the final four holes of the afternoon after her double-bogey at 14, the biggest putt being a five-foot par save on 15 after Gardner had made birdie.
“I only had one double-bogey for three days and that’s good for me, I’ve been known to take a few big numbers,” Kannegieser said. “That putt was key, when I sunk that five-plus footer that was key.”
Facing a tough right-front pin placement on the short par-3 16th, Kannegieser went for the middle of the green while Gardner attacked the flag, and both players made par on that hole. On the 17th, Gardner once again kept the pressure on by hitting her fourth shot to three feet and saving par to give herself a chance on 18.
But when Gardner’s second shot to the finishing par-4 hole found the right-front bunker and Kannegieser stuck her shot on the center of the green, the win was secure, and Kannegieser could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“When I hit that approach shot and I looked up and it was going on I knew I was good,” she said.
Gardner’s round was the lowest on the afternoon and second-lowest all week — Brandes tallied an opening-round 72.
“I felt I played as good as I could play,” Gardner said. “I hit a couple weak shots on a couple holes but I was able to capitalize by good approach shots and my putting, it was very true.”
Kannegieser feels fortunate to have won this tournament twice in four years.
“I never thought I was going to win it once so to win it twice, I’m beside myself, I really am,” she said. “I know without Alexa here it kind of opened the door for all of us, and we have some other good players in the state that weren’t able to compete in it this year.”
Alexa is 2008 and 2009 winner Alexa Rancourt, who won this tournament by more than 20 strokes last summer, and couldn’t participate this year as she played in the Canadian Amateur championships this week.
Brandes got off to a rocky start with bogeys on her first three holes with a double-bogey at the fourth while also bogeying six and seven, en route to a front-nine 42.
But she finished strong with a 39 to claim third.
