Two-time Michigan Amateur champion Allyson Geer-Park will remember the experience and the significance of playing in the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
“It’s honestly been so memorable, this entire week — just to understand what this week means for women’s golf in general,” the Brighton and Michigan State University golfer told the Detroit Free Press Friday.
“Even though I didn’t play the way I wanted to (Wednesday and Thursday), I’m still rooting for some of my friends who are playing tomorrow just because we’re all in this together this week. Everyone understands what this means. I was playing for something bigger than myself, which was really cool to be a part of.”
Geer-Park shot a second-round 4-over 76 Thursday and finished in a tie for 57th place, missing the 36-hole cut. She did get to play the Augusta National course that hosts this week’s Masters with the entire invited field of 72 golfers on Friday. It was a practice day for the 30 golfers who made the cut before Saturday’s final round, and Geer-Park, posed for pictures, skipped shots at No. 16 and enjoyed several other moments of the day.
The tournament featured the top amateur players in the world and the club said it was established to inspire greater interest and participation in the women’s game by creating a new, exciting and rewarding pathway for these players to fulfill their dreams.
Geer-Park, averaging 72.15 in scoring this year for the Spartans, recently won her second collegiate individual title at the Briar’s Creek Invitational on Johns Island, S.C., when she shot the lowest 54-hole score in MSU women’s golf history of 13-under 203. She also won the Mary Fossum Invitational in September at Forest Akers on the MSU campus. She traveled later Saturday to nearby South Carolina to rejoin her Spartan teammates where they are competing in the Clemson University Invitational.
NBC Sports broadcast three hours (Noon – 3 p.m.) of Saturday’s final round of the women’s tournament.
Here’s a link to the Detroit Free Press story: https://bit.ly/2uQtQgo
