Nearly flawless, Hendrick cruises
01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, July 13, 2005
NEWPORT -- Nobody was shocked that top-seeded
Ally Caffrey of Wannamoisett defeated 16th-seeded Nancy Diemoz of Montaup, 5
& 4, yesterday in the opening round of match play in the Ocean State
Women's Golf Association State Amateur Championship at Newport National.
It was no surprise that No.
2-seed Valerie Blinn of Crestwood, the defending OSWGA champion, survived
15th-seeded Karen Dufault of Montaup, 2 & 1. Dufault rallied from three
down to make it close at the end, but Blinn held her off.
What stunned the participants
wasn't the fact that third-seeded Jennifer Hendrick of Exeter defeated
14th-seeded Cissy Grady of Quidnessett, but it was how she did it. Hendrick
played great and Grady did not, which resulted in a misleading 8 & 7
Hendrick victory. Grady, the first net winner at both the OSWGA Founders
Invitational and the Rhode Island Women's State President's Cup, is a much better
player than she showed yesterday, Hendrick said.
"Cissy and I play a lot
of golf together and she is a great player who gives a great match, so I didn't
expect this," Hendrick said. "She was just a little off today. She
left a lot out there and I played really well."
Grady said, "I didn't
come to play."
Grady definitely picked the
wrong day to have an off-round because Hendrick rarely made a mistake. After
winning the 18th hole, Hendrick shot an even-par 36 on the front nine. She
bogeyed the par-3 fourth, but so did Grady. Then Hendrick rolled in a 20-foot
birdie putt on the par-4 sixth.
Hendrick won holes 2, 3, 5, 6,
7 and 9 on the front en route to victory.
"On the par-5 (first
hole) I plugged myself into the bunker, but I made a really great sand save,"
Hendrick said. "I hit it to about 3 feet to the hole and made the putt.
That was the turning point for me. I played well and that was the only way I
could win because Cissy is a great player."
"It was an awesome
shot," Grady said. "I thought I had the hole."
Hendrick, 35, learned how to
play golf at North Kingstown High School before taking several years off while
attending Johnson & Wales University. After graduating, she decided to pick
up the game again and she hasn't stopped swinging since.
"I love it," said
Hendrick, who finished runner-up (second gross) at the President's Cup, and
third at the Nathalie Price Memorial Spring Open.
In 1998, Hendrick joined the
OSWGA and this year plans on playing in more OSWGA tournaments. These days her
life revolves around golf. When she is not competing in tournaments, she helps
run her family-owned Richmond and Exeter country clubs.
"Jen definitely has a
shot at winning if she keeps playing the way she is playing," Grady said.
"If you can make steady
pars and just stay steady and play your game, anybody can win," Hendrick
said.
Hendrick and Grady's match
wasn't the only one that caused a lot of buzz. Carol Clarey of Segregansett and
Alpine's Amanda Sabitoni had to go to a playoff hole to determine a winner. In
the end, Clarey pulled off a dramatic come-from-behind 19-hole victory.
Down two strokes after 11
holes, Clarey made her move on the 12th.
"I made a great
up-and-down to par and win the (12th) hole," Clarey said. "On the
par-3 (13th hole) I hit it stiff and missed a short putt, but she three-putted
so that evened it up. She won the next hole to go 1-up. On 17, I made a great
15-foot putt to tie that hole and on 18 I made another great 15-foot putt to
win that hole."
That sent the match to the
extra hole and Clarey buried a 20-foot putt for birdie to win.
"I couldn't putt early
and my swing was flat," Clarey said. "I was hitting the ball almost
sideways but then it just started to drop into place. I started hitting my
irons really good and then my woods were right on."