2017 has been pretty good to Katie Sharp around the halfway point of the year. The Michigan State Senior-to-be has added to her resume with a top-5 individual finish and team win at the Big Ten Championship, a trip to the NCAA National Championship and in her first Indiana start of the year, the IWGA Match Play title. “These past few months have been full of long-lasting memories,” said Sharp. “I have been playing well since March and it's always great to see a continuation of good play from team golf to summer golf.”
Sharp’s play was more than good at The Legends G.C. where she began the week making seven birdies on her way to a round of 6-under-par 66 to take stroke play medalist honors and the number one match play seed by two strokes. Once into match play, Sharp rolled through the bracket, with not one match reaching the 16th hole. “I played really solid all week,” said Sharp. “I was striking the ball really well and I hit a lot of greens. I made a lot of clutch putts for birdie and par and used my good rounds to build up my confidence so that I could prepare for each match.”
With the semifinal and championship matches played on the final day, Sharp controlled her semifinal match with Kennedy Holtsclaw throughout, leading to an 8&7 victory. On the other side of the bracket, Lauren Tibbets defeated defending champion Julia Potter to advance and meet Sharp in the final. “I think the final match against Lauren was the toughest match for me,” Sharp noted. “She played really well all week and I knew that I needed to continue my good play if I was going to win. I was more nervous for that match than any other.”
Despite the nerves, Sharp took the lead on the third hole and never trailed. She clinched her first career IWGA win on the 15th hole for a 5&3 victory. “Winning my first IWGA event feels really good!” said Sharp after the win. “It feels great to finally break through and have all of my hard work pay off. I have always loved playing in IWGA events, they are always well run and the people are wonderful. I'm proud to be from Indiana and the IWGA is a great representative for Indiana golf.”