Ocean State Women' Amateur: Murphy dethrones Blinn in tense battle

Katherine Murphy wins the OSWGA title by nipping Valerie Blinn, the three-time defending champion, 1 up, in a back-and-forth match.

10:01 AM EDT on Thursday, July 27, 2006

BY PAUL KENYON
Journal Sports Writer

FOSTER -- It was the biggest, the longest and the best day yet yesterday in Katherine Murphy's promising young golf career.

The recent Portsmouth High grad survived two grueling matches at Foster Country Club to become the champion of the 11th R.I. Women's Amateur Championship, sponsored by the Ocean State Women's Golf Association.

Murphy won the title by beating Valerie Blinn, the three-time defending champion, 1 up in a wild final. The two staged a back-and-forth match that saw one or the other win 13 of the 18 holes.

Both appeared to have control at different stages. Blinn was in charge, 3-up through six. But Murphy responded with a fabulous stretch that saw her go 5 under par over the next six holes. She nearly had a hole-in-one on the 7th, then eagled the par-5 8th.

When Blinn struggled at the start of the back nine (four straight bogeys), Murphy charged into a 3-up advantage through 13. But then it was Blinn's turn to rally. She won 14, 15 and 16 with pars to square the match.

Murphy, who is headed to Penn State next month on a partial golf scholarship, regained the lead when she won the par-3 17th with a par. When both bogeyed the final hole, Murphy, a two-time R.I. Interscholastic League champion, had far and away the biggest title of her fledgling career.

"It feels great, especially playing Val," Murphy said. "She's a great player. She's owned the state. She's been on the college circuit . . . To know I can compete with her is definitely a great feeling."

Blinn, 25, was happy that she did not give away her title as much as Murphy took it away.

"She was playing very solid. You can't make any mistakes, and I hit a couple of bad chips and drives," Blinn said. "I've been blessed in that I won three in a row."

The afternoon final simply was the last act in a terrific show.

In the morning semifinals, Murphy survived a 19-hole thriller with Kibbe Reilly, her second straight overtime match (she also won in 20 holes against Jennifer Hendrick in the quarterfinals). In the other semifinal, Blinn had to rally from 2 down on the back nine to nip 15-year-old Samantha Morrell, 1 up.

"These greens were really fast today, faster than they were all week," Blinn said. "The course played great for match play. All the matches we played could have gone either way."

Murphy was the one who made the key shots at the right times in every match she played. Even as an 18-year-old, she was worn out by the week. She had never been to Foster before. Three days in a row she had an early-morning wakeup call and a drive of more than an hour from her home in Portsmouth. She was up at 5:30 yesterday and then had to go 37 difficult holes to earn the title.

She was 2 over in the morning in edging Reilly, then had the same total in the afternoon, although she arrived at it very differently, with some struggles early and late but with outstanding play in between. After putting off the green on the par-4 sixth, she lost that hole and found herself 3 down.

She responded by hitting a wedge on the downhill, 120-yard seventh within inches for a conceded birdie. She hit two good shots on the par-5 8th and had 93 yards left. As her shot landed on the green and pitched forward, she said, "Go in." It did, for an eagle. Blinn had a 20-footer for birdie but never had the chance to try it.

On the par-4 ninth, both hit drives down the middle, right near each other. Blinn stuck her approach to five feet, and Murphy followed by hitting hers within two feet. Both birdied.

The back nine was not as spectacular as both struggled at times. Pars were good enough for Murphy to win 10, 11 and 12. She had a downhill, turning three-footer that could have upped her lead to four at 13, but that one spun out. Given new life, Blinn began a charge as she won 14, 15 and 16 to draw even. Murphy got a little boost from her dad, Bob, who was caddying for her, and steadied. When she made a routine par on 17 while Blinn bogeyed, Murphy had the lead. After both bogeyed the final hole, Murphy was the champion.

She's a player who still is learning the game, still getting better.

"My short game has gotten a lot better," Murphy said. "I've been practicing a lot with my coach, Kyle Phelps, on my short game."

Both Murphy and Blinn will go back to work next week in the R.I. Women's Golf Association Championship at Wanumetonomy.

pkenyon@projo.com / (401) 277-7340

SEMIFINALS

Championship Division

Katherine Murphy, Wanumetonomy, def. Kibbe Reilly, RICC, 19 holes; Valerie Blinn, Crestwood, def. Samantha Morrell, North Kingstown, 1 up.

First Division

Alley Caffrey, Wannamoisett, def. Annie Corio, Kirkbrae, 6 and 4; Roberta Hunt, Highland, def. Nancy Mendelsohn, Woodland Greens, 1 up.

Second Division

Kathy Mis, Weekapaug, def. Maureen Deloreto, Chemawa, 4 and 3; Brenda Martin, Country View, def. Carol Wilson, Laurel Lane, 19 holes.

Third Division

Judy McAuley, Foster, def. Anne Drescher, Pinehurst, 5 and 4; Ellen Stensing-Woods, Fall River, def. Elaine Shanley, Pinehurst, 5 and 4.

FINALS

Championship Division

Murphy def. Blinn, 1 up.

First Division

Caffrey def. Hunt, 4 and 3.

Second Division

Mis def. Martin, 2 and 1.

Third Division

Stensing-Woods def. McAuley, 3 and 2.