After two beautiful days at Kokomo Country Club, Rachel Johnson of The Sagamore Club came out on top to claim the 2023 Indiana PGA Women’s Open Title.
Johnson had an impressive first round of 5-under par (65) and finished tied for the lead alongside Westfield’s Cailyn Henderson. The two players went into the final round with a two stroke lead over Westfield’s Samantha Brown (a). This neck and neck battle between Johnson and Henderson fizzled out early with Henderson struggling on the first few holes of the round. However Brown fought hard on the front nine to sit with Johnson for a quick moment after birdieing holes 1,5, and 7 but came up short with a double on hole 8. This gave Johnson some separation from the crowd where she ended up finishing 6-under par, five strokes ahead of her competition. Fort Wayne’s Madi Dabagia (a) made sure to stay in contention and created a tough fight for second. This battle ended with Brown and Dabagia finishing with a total of 1-under par and sharing the runner-up spot.
Johnson remained consistent today throughout the duration of the round, which was enough to both create a safe distance between her competition, and negate some pressure from her performance.
“I came out here just having fun. No expectations but to just enjoy two 18 rounds of golf with my dad on the bag. Having him on the bag just kind of takes me back to all the times he helped me in junior golf. Now that I am an adult, we don’t get to play together that much anymore, so it just makes it extra special to have him be able to coach me” said Johnson.
Johnson who is the Assistant Golf Professional at The Sagamore Club, noted that it has been a while since she has been in the winning circle and that it feels good to be back.