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Castle and Kuehn Go Back-To-Back at 44th Carolinas Women's Four-Ball
ORANGEBURG, S.C. (June 30, 2021) -- Final round results of the 44th Carolinas Women’s Four-Ball Championship at Orangeburg Country Club in Orangeburg, S.C. from June 29 - June 30, 2021. The championship division competed from the championship tees that played 6,262 yards, par 72, and the senior’s division competed from the senior tees that played 5,369 yards, par 72.
Related: Championship Web Site | Full Field of Players | Starting Times | Scoring | History | Photos
Jensen Castle of West Columbia, S.C. and her partner Rachel Kuehn of Asheville, N.C. hoisted the Vicki Hillen Memorial trophy once again at the 44th Carolinas Women’s Four-Ball Championship hosted at Orangeburg Country Club in Orangeburg, S.C. Jayne Pardus of Mount Pleasant, S.C. and her partner Kerry Rutan of Daniel Island, S.C. took home gold in the senior division.
Last year, Castle and Kuehn captured their first Carolinas Women’s Four-Ball Championship title with a total score of 16-under-par, 128 total. In 2021, the duo defended their title with a winning score of 16-under-par, 128 total. The only difference between their second win and their first, was that they held onto the lead throughout both rounds in 2020.
“[Winning the Championship] is a really great feeling, especially having Rachel as my partner,” the University of Kentucky golfer said. “This is more of a fun tournament for us. It is very relaxing and we just go out here and play our own games and feed so much off of each other. I would not want any other partner than Rachel. ”
On Wednesday, entering the final round, Castle and Kuehn were not atop the leaderboard. They battled a one-stroke deficit, firing off an impressive 9-under-par, 63 in their final round to take home the hardware. Their final round score of 9-under-par, 63 was the lowest score registered for the entire tournament. When asked about how they managed to regain control of the tournament the pair said, “It really takes the pressure off your partner, when your partner has a birdie look and you put yourself in position for a birdie look too. It really frees you up, especially in four-ball.”
Their quest for gold would begin on the par-4 No.7 which only saw 11 birdies through the entire duration of the tournament. However, Castle found the green on her approach shot and rolled in a lengthy birdie putt, opening the door for more birdies to drop in the remainder of their round.
“It was kind of funny because today we did not have a birdie on the first six holes and then Jensen made one on 7 which took the lid off and then they went in from everywhere. So we were just trying to stay patient and give ourselves looks,” Kuehn said.
Kuehn would not let her partner do all of the heavy lifting, however. She contributed birdies on the next two holes, Nos. 8 and 9. Castle would echo the help shortly after, birdieing No.10. On the par-3 No. 12, which was playing from 142 yards on Wednesday, Castle sunk a momentum-changing 45-foot birdie putt from off the green.
At this point in the final round, Castle and Kuehn had a share of the lead with the first round leaders and eventual third place finishers, Sarah Spicer and Jessica Spicer of Bahama, N.C. at 12-under-par. Then, Kuehn went on a birdie spree, posting sub-par scores on Nos. 14, 15 and 16, giving them a three-stroke margin over the field.
However, just as Castle and Kuehn were walking in birdies, Gracyn Burgess of Lexington, S.C. and Smith Knaffle of Murrells Inlet, S.C. were making a run for the title. Although Burgess and Knaffle found success on their inward nine, birdieing five holes, they came up short finishing in the runner-up spot. Unaware of the other scores posted, Castle would sink her fourth birdie of the day on No.18 to seal the deal on their back-to-back victory.
In the senior division, Jayne Pardus and Kerry Rutan hung on to their 2-stroke lead from the day prior. In their final round, Pardus found a rhythm, rolling in four birdies on Wednesday. Together the Palmetto State pair would sign off on a 7-under-par, 137 total scorecard. This marks the pair's first Carolinas Women’s Four-Ball Championship appearance and title.
Chrissie Spidell of Anderson, S.C. and Pam Prescott of Piedmont, S.C. tied for second with Kim Briele of New Bern, N.C. and Patty Moore of Pinehurst, N.C. with total score of 141, 3-under-par. Finishing in fourth was the team of Natalie Huff of Elgin, S.C. and Suzann Bartley of Columbia, S.C.
The Carolinas Golf Association would like to extend our appreciation to the members and staff at Orangeburg Country Club, especially Head Golf Professional John “JP” Waldron, Director of Golf David Lackey, and Golf Course Superintendent Alex Tolbert.
Championship Division Results
| Pos. | Team | City, State | Total | R1 | R2 |
| 1 | Jensen Castle + Rachel Kuehn | Asheville, NC, West Columbia, SC | -16 | 65 | 63 |
| 2 | Gracyn Burgess + Smith Knaffle | Lexington, SC, Murrells Inlet, SC | -13 | 66 | 65 |
| 3 | Jessica Spicer + Sarah Spicer | Bahama, NC | -12 | 64 | 68 |
| 4 | Lydia Randell + Mallory Fobes | East Bend, NC, Winston-Salem, NC | -11 | 68 | 65 |
| T5 | Emily Dunlap + Jodee Tindal | Greenville, SC, Rock Hill, SC | -9 | 66 | 69 |
| T5 | Caroline Crumrine + Savannah Hylton | Wilmington, NC, Hilton Head Island, SC | -9 | 67 | 68 |
| 7 | Callista Rice + Kathryn Carson | Mars Hill, NC, Mooresville, NC | -7 | 68 | 69 |
| 8 | Bridget Wilkie + Olivia Wilkie | Bluffton, SC | -4 | 73 | 67 |
| T9 | Ava Lucas + Ella Perna | Durham, NC, Raleigh, NC | -3 | 69 | 72 |
| T9 | Hailey Joy + Victoria Cook | Reidsville, NC | -3 | 71 | 70 |
| T9 | Lotte Fox + Mogie Adamchik | Raleigh, NC | -3 | 70 | 71 |
| T12 | Ashley Sloup + CC Buford | Winterville, NC, Fuquay Varina, NC | -2 | 71 | 71 |
| T12 | Lextyn Petz + Sofia Carles | Clinton, SC, Columbia, SC | -2 | 72 | 70 |
| 14 | Emma Charles + Victoria Hall | Hartsville, SC, Moore, SC | -1 | 72 | 71 |
| 15 | Hailey Pendleton + Phoebe Carles | Waxhaw, NC, Clinton, SC | +1 | 72 | 73 |
| 16 | Anna Freeman + Kerington Lamb | Aiken, SC, Easley, SC | +2 | 77 | 69 |
| 17 | Gillian O'Brien + Peyton O'Brien | Clemson, SC | +3 | 72 | 75 |
| 18 | Anna McDonald + Venecia Zaia | Hickory, NC, Asheville, NC | +4 | 75 | 73 |
| 19 | Lea Venable + Stephanie Johnson | simpsonville, SC, Simpsonville, SC | +5 | 75 | 74 |
| 20 | Emily Rapp + Victoria Tsurutis | Greenville, SC, Charleston, SC | +9 | 76 | 77 |
Senior Division Results
| Pos. | Team | City, State | Total | R1 | R2 |
| 1 | Jayne Pardus + Kerry Rutan | Daniel Island, SC, mount pleasant, SC | -7 | 69 | 68 |
| T2 | Chrissie Spidell + Pam Prescott | Anderson, SC, Piedmont, SC | -3 | 73 | 68 |
| T2 | Kim Briele + Patty Moore | New Bern, NC, Pinehurst, NC | -3 | 72 | 69 |
| 4 | Natalie Huff + Suzann Bartley | Elgin, SC, Columbia, SC | 1 | 71 | 74 |
| 5 | Leigh Armentrout + Linda Daniel | Huntersville, NC, Greensboro, NC | 2 | 73 | 73 |
| 6 | Karin Wolfe + Nancy Dodge | Gilbert, SC, Lexington, SC | 3 | 74 | 73 |
| 7 | Julie Snider + Suzy Ellison | Columbia, SC | 4 | 77 | 71 |
| 8 | Kathy Binkley + Lisa Mooneyham | Cornelius, NC, Graham, NC | 5 | 76 | 73 |
| T9 | Carol Ackerson + Janis Romeo | New Bern, NC, Charlotte, NC | 6 | 72 | 78 |
| T9 | Elaine Johnson + Leigh Coulter | Hopkins, SC, Hartsville, SC | 6 | 74 | 76 |
| T11 | Cathy Martin + June Wang | Johns Island, SC, Huntersville, NC | 7 | 79 | 72 |
| T11 | Kendra Muir + Murrie Ives | Pinehurst, NC | 7 | 75 | 76 |
| T13 | Anne Washington + Kim Clarke | Conway, SC, Newton, NC | 9 | 75 | 78 |
| T13 | Beth Coldwell + Suzanne Moro | Myrtle Beach, SC | 9 | 79 | 74 |
| 15 | Janet Myers + Karin Wu | Charlotte, NC | 11 | 78 | 77 |
| 16 | Ramona Jackson + Teresa Taylor | Wilmington, NC | 13 | 79 | 78 |
| T17 | Donna Eaton + Janet Roberts | Aiken, SC | 14 | 81 | 77 |
| T17 | Carrie Dillard + Flossy Laudenbach | Aiken, SC | 14 | 77 | 81 |
| 19 | Kit Rea + Lori Teague | Taylorsville, NC, Huntersville, NC | 15 | 79 | 80 |
| 20 | Evelyn Larrimore + Mary Helen Treece | Wingate, NC, Monroe, NC | 16 | 82 | 78 |
| 21 | Billie Ellwanger + Katrina Carter | Sunset Beach, NC, North Myrtle Beach, SC | 17 | 86 | 75 |
| 22 | Kyoko Tsuchiya + Robin Moyer | Mt Pleasant, SC, Mount Pleasant, SC | 19 | 79 | 84 |
| 23 | Pamela Ruthven + Tina Houston | Aiken, SC | 20 | 81 | 83 |
| 24 | Denise Uitto + Marianne Samenko | McCormick, SC, Simpsonville, SC | 23 | 81 | 86 |
| 25 | Laura Rawl + Teddy Stockwell | Charleston, SC | 25 | 85 | 84 |
| 26 | Marie Venable + Wendy Beasley | Conover, NC, Mooresville, NC | 26 | 83 | 87 |
| 27 | Lu Hauser + Robbie Knotts | Huntersville, NC, Conover, NC | 28 | 83 | 89 |
| 28 | Denise Brackett + Helen Johnson | Florence, SC | 33 | 87 | 90 |
| 29 | Darlene Seguin + Jean Burns | Irmo, SC, Lexington, SC | 39 | 92 | 91 |
About the Carolinas Golf Association (CGA)
The CGA is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational organization that was founded in 1909 to promote and to protect the game of golf in the Carolinas by providing competitions, education, support and benefits to golf clubs and golfers. The CGA is the second largest golf association in the country with over 700 member clubs represented by nearly 150,000 individuals.
The CGA annually conducts 48 championships and five team match competitions for men, women, juniors, and seniors. It also runs over 150 One-Day (net and gross) events as well as qualifying for USGA national championships. The CGA serves golf in the Carolinas with numerous programs such as: the USGA Handicap System; tournament management software and support; course measuring and course/slope ratings; agronomy consultation; answers about the Rules of Golf, Rules of Amateur Status, and Handicapping; Carolinas Golf Magazine; Interclub series; Tarheel Youth Golf Association; Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame; expense assistance for USGA Junior and Girls' Junior qualifiers from the Carolinas; and the Carolinas Golf Foundation (CGF). The CGF has distributed nearly $2,000,000 since 1977 to benefit Carolinas' golf initiatives including junior and women's programs.
For more information about the CGA, visit our website.
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