Left to Right: Runner-up Ashley Kees and Champion Kelly Grassel
Playing a few groups ahead of the leaders at the Indiana PGA
Women’s Open, Chesterton’s Kelly Grassel was making moves. Grassel began the day at 1-over-par, five
shots behind first round leader Amanda Detmer of Madison, Ind. Grassel made the turn at Hillview CC at 2-under-par, and
finished strong with two more birdies on her second nine of the day for a 3-under-par
tournament finish and her first win in an Indiana women’s event.
“I stuck it close on hole 10 for a nice birdie and I made a
few good putts today,” said Grassel, a rising sophomore at Michigan State
University. “Other than that I just didn’t
make a ton of mistakes. When I finished
at 3-under-par and found out that I was the leader in the clubhouse I was honestly
surprised.”
As the day progressed, Detmer saw her lead slowly slip away,
and it was Ashley Kees of Fort Wayne that proved to be the player to watch in
the lead group. Kees birdied holes 1, 2,
and 3 right out of the gate and saw herself with an early lead at 5-under-par.
With a few disappointing bogeys late in the round, Kees fell to 2-under-par with just two holes to play. She gave herself realistic birdies putts on
both par-5s, holes 17 and 18, but was unable to convert and just fell short of
victory.
“I had an awesome start today,” said Kees a red shirt senior
at the University of Memphis. “I hit the
ball really well and I can’t complain with how I played. It is definitely disappointing to finish
second, but it gives me a push to work harder for the rest of summer heading
into my final year at Memphis.”
Grassel, too, says this win gives her confidence heading into
her second season of golf at Michigan State.
“I haven’t been playing very well the last month,” Grassel
said. “Winning this event gives me a lot
of confidence. I am really excited to
have improved on the things I’ve been working on. This is such a great title to have!”
Newburgh’s Kayla Katterhenry finished in third at
1-under-par.