McCready Claims Oregon Amateur Title
NORTH PLAINS, Ore. ? Oregon's Kimberly McCready of Placerville, Calif., defeated Vanderbilt's Kristen Svicarovich 3 & 1 to win the 96th Oregon Amateur on Witch Hollow at Pumpkin Ridge Saturday in North Plains, Ore.
McCready, who will be a junior this fall, built a four-hole lead through the first 18, but had to weather a charge from Svicarovich to claim her first Oregon Amateur title.
Saturday’s match was considerably different than Friday’s semifinals when she took on former teammate Johnna Nealy, who just completed her senior season. In the semifinal, it was too good friends just having a great time, rooting for each other easing the stress of the competition.
Saturday’s morning round for McCready was much of the same. In fact, she credits her lower scoring average in NCAA play this year (77.6 her freshman year to 75.4 this past season) to her newfound attitude of not taking the game so seriously and just having fun.
“I was not nervous at all in the morning round,” commented McCready. It showed in her game as she carded four straight birdies on holes 6 thru 9 to go 4-up, a lead she maintain until the end of the round.
It was a different story after the break. “I was really nervous at the start of the second 18 because I knew that what I did from there would determine whether or not I could win,” she noted. After carding a round of 34-39?73, she started the second round with three straight bogeys remaining 1-up and having the momentum change significantly. She regained her composure by the fourth hole matching Svicarovich’s birdie and kept the Hillsboro, Ore., native at bay the rest of the match.
McCready advanced to the semifinals by defeating Oregon State's Jillian Ferrante 8 & 6, while Svicarovich got there by stopping former UO golf coach Lara Tennant 1-up. Nealy made the semifinals by getting past Washington State's Tracy Broders, to set up the final four match-up of Duck teammates. McCready outlasted Nealy 3 & 2 Friday afternoon before going on to defeat Svicarovich in Saturday's 36-hole final.
