Michigan Women's Amateur is down to the final four-

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97TH MICHIGAN WOMEN'S AMATEUR DOWN TO FINAL FOUR
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EAST LANSING – The field at the 97th Michigan Women’s Amateur at Walnut Hills Country Club has been whittled down to the final four after the second and third rounds of match play Thursday.
Aya Johnson (Muskegon) will meet Christine Meier (Rochester Hills) in tomorrow’s first semi-final at 8 a.m. while Jennifer Elsholz (Grand Rapids) will meet Hailey Hrynewich (Muskegon) in the second match at 8:15.

Meier had a long day of golf on Thursday as both of her matches went extra holes. Her morning match versus Michigan State University teammate Liz Nagle went 19 holes and her afternoon match against future Spartan Jacqueline Setas (East Lansing) went 20 holes.

“I’ve gone extra holes before in this tournament but never twice in one day,” said Meier. “I am going home and going to bed now!”

Meier said both matches were very tough and that all three golfers were playing very, very well.

“The first match with Liz was mentally draining because we were both playing well and knew it was going to take birdies to win,” said Meier. “Then to go against Jackie who was playing well, it was tough. I had two tough matches today.”

Hrynewich’s match versus Sarah Thompson (Canton) also went to 19 holes. Hrynewich said she never got flustered and just patiently waited for Thompson to make a mistake.

“She was 1 up for a few holes on the back nine,” said Hrynewich. “I knew I needed to beat her on 18 and I did it with a good par. Then on 19, I got on the green and she didn’t.”

It is also the first time in match play for Elsholz who admits she was more than a little nervous in the first round of the day.

“When I was going into my second match my dad pointed out that I was in the top eight, which is pretty cool, and told me just to go out and have fun,” said Elsholz. “So that’s what I did. But I think I almost gave my mom a heart attack in the first match.”

Johnson credits her stellar short game for propelling her to victory in both of her matches today.

“My putter was on fire,” said Johnson. “And I chipped in twice today so I feel like the short game overall is finally there.”

The 97th Michigan Women’s Amateur is sponsored by Palace Sports & Entertainment. Admission is free and spectators are welcome.