Collegians go extra holes

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Two of the best college golfers from Virginia staged a high-level battle in the Virginias Women’s Stroke Play Championship Thursday at Mount Vernon Country Club. Separated by no more than a stroke on the back nine, Kristen Simpson of the University of Virginia and Sara Hurwitch of the University of Kentucky took it the distance and then some.

Is this Tiger and Rooco?

With a five-foot putt for par on the second playoff hole, Simpson, 22, emerged with a hard-earned victory to topple defending champion Hurwitch, 19, and claim her first Virginia Golf Association title.

“I’m excited. It’s my first win. I’ve been close a lot,” said Simpson, a Norfolk resident. “Especially beating a player like Sara, it means a lot.”

Simpson, a recent graduate of Virginia, will spend another year at the school, pursing a graduate degree and fulfilling her final year of athletic eligibility.

On Thursday, Simpson survived an anxious moment on No. 15, a par 5, where she hooked a 3-wood approach dangerously close to trees and out-of-bounds markers. But Simpson found her ball in an opening and took advantage, hitting a wedge to within 15 feet and making a birdie putt to take a one-stroke lead.

Simpson gave it back on No. 17 after pushing her drive into the trees right, and needed a 6-footer to stay tied. Hurwitch, a resident of Potomac Falls, had the advantage at No. 18, where she hit a bold approach over a bunker to within six feet, but she missed the putt, and the players returned to the 18th tee.

On the first playoff hole, it was Hurwitch who needed to sweat out a par saving putt. Her six-footer after a strong shot from the bunker saved par and sent the players back to the 18th tee.

This time, Hurwitch drove into a fairway bunker, then caught the lip on her second shot. When her 20-foot putt for par grazed the cup, Simpson had a chance to win. And she didn’t waste it, rolling in her par-saving putt after a chip from behind the green.

It was a reversal of fortune for Hurwitch, who won the tournament last year in a playoff, beating Whitney Neuhauser of Barboursville.

“Any time you’re put under a pressure situation, you have to perform,” said Hurwitch. “Unfortunately, I didn’t make that last putt.”

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