Blinn, Caffrey get the job
done
Valerie Blinn, the
defending champ, and Ally Caffrey, the medalist, rally for victories and reach
the finals of the
Strangely,
neither Valerie Blinn, the defending champ, nor Ally Caffrey, the medalist, was
particularly happy with the way she played in yesterday's semifinals. Still,
while neither was at her best, both had enough to rally for victories after
falling behind early.
Caffrey
downed Marisa White, 3 and 1, while Blinn held off Amber Weller, 2
up.
In both
matches, the outcomes were decided by consistency. Blinn and Caffrey both did a
better job of staying out of trouble and rattling off pars. Scoring for the
foursome -- all four played in the same group -- was not quite up to what it had
been on the first two days of the tournament, although it was still
solid.
Blinn used
one good burst, back-to-back birdies on the front nine, to give herself the lift
she needed to get past her friend, Weller. Weller had jumped to the early lead,
but the pivotal turn came at six and seven. Blinn birdied both. On the par-3
7th, in fact, she came within inches of a hole-in-one.
After that,
Blinn ran off several pars, many of them scrambling. Her scrambling, though, was
nothing compared to Weller's. Weller had trouble off the tee, primaily pulling
the ball. She constantly got herself in trouble. Almost every time, though, she
showed wizardry with her irons and short game, not only getting out of trouble
but most often saving par.
"It doesn't
matter where she hits a tee shot or second shot, she stays right in there and
she makes putts from everyhere," Blinn said of Weller. "That's the way she
played in the qualifying round, too, when I played with her." Both shot 73 that
day.
While her
scrambling allowed Weller to hang in, she could never catch Blinn on the back
nine. And when her short game failed her and led to bogeys at both the 17th and
18th holes, Blinn had the 2-up decision.
Blinn, a
graduate of St. Francis College of Pennsylvania, is in the finals despite
playing through major swing changes.
"I tried to
qualify for the U.S. Open. I didn't play well," she said. "I went back to my
instructor, Marvin Lerman, at the
"It's not
that my swing was bad before, but the thing is, you have to have a swing that
lasts under pressure," Blinn said. "I thought about it for a week and decided to
do it. Two weeks into my swing change, I shot a 69 at Carnegie Abbey. It's
shaved about five strokes off my game and I'm not even halfway there
yet."
There were
times yesterday, she said, when she felt herself going between her new and old
swings and not hitting shots quite as well as she would like. But she still made
enough pars to win.
The
Caffrey-White match was similar in that it was the winner, Caffrey, who had the
run of pars. White was the one who gave the match its
swings.
White, 40,
the executive director of the Joint Committee on Legislative Services, more than
held her own in the power game with the long-hitting Caffrey. Surprisingly, it
was around the green where she had problems.
She
three-putted the 10th to lose that hole to Caffrey's par. She drew back within
one at 11, but then three-putted the par-3 12th. At the 12th, Caffrey missed the
green, chipped to five feet and saved par. White was on the green, about 25 feet
past the hole. She left her first putt three feet short and missed that
one.
The match
went that way the rest of the way. White never caught up, primarily because she
struggled on the greens.
"I didn't
get a putt to the hole all day," White said, adding that, as a Triggs member,
she knows the greens well. "I didn't have my confidence all day. I was just a
little more tentative."
Caffrey,
who had recorded a 2-under 70 in winning nedalist
honors by three strokes, was thrilled to win. But the 18-year-old who is headed
to the
"I need to
work, mostly with my chipping," she said before heading to Button Hole, where
she is working this summer. She is working there with pro Ryan Porter, who
caddied for her yesterday.
"Maybe if I
hit every green I won't have to worry about chipping," Caffrey
said.
SEMIFINALS
Championship
Division
Ally
Caffrey, Wannamoisett, def. Marisa White, Triggs, 3 and 1; Valerie Blinn,
Crestwood, def. Amber Weller, Woodland Greens, 2 up.
A
Division
Katherine
Murphy, Wanumetonomy, def. Tiffany Dipanni,
B
Division
Lori
DiPersio, Crestwood, def. Carol Beaudette, Alpine, 20 holes; Kay Bullock,
Crestwood, def. Leann Cesario, Metacomet, 19 holes.
C
Division
Kyong Kim,
Triggs, def. Brenda Paris, Triggs, 10 and 8; Coleen Curley, Triggs, def. Judy
Gravier, Triggs, 2 and 1.
D
Division
Kathy Mis,
Weekapaug, def. Kathy Clarkin,
TODAY'S
FINALS
Championship
Division
A
Division
B
Division
C
Division
D
Division