Maryland teens Choi, Seumanutafa qualify for U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball

   The U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship brings together teams of golfers of all ages from some of the top junior players to the best senior amateurs and everyone in between.

   It’s tough for the best college players to get involved because the tournament often falls in the middle of the college postseason, although the Colorado State pair of Katrina Prendergast and Ellen Secor captured the title last spring on their way to an NCAA Regional after being invited to play as individuals.

   Arizona’s Haley Moore and Gigi Stoll reached the second round of match play in last spring’s U.S. Women’s Four-Ball and a few weeks later they were celebrating an NCAA championship. So there’s that.

   Eight teams braved some rainy conditions – a recurring theme, it seems, in 2018 – Tuesday with one berth to next spring’s edition of the U.S. Women’s Four-Ball up for grabs in a Golf Association of Philadelphia-administered qualifier at Kennett Square Golf & Country Club and a couple of Maryland teens, 17-year-old Aneka Seumanutafa and 15-year-old Faith Choi survived a playoff to grab that one ticket.

   The 2019 U.S. Women’s Four-Ball will tee off April 27 at Timuquana Country Club, a Donald Ross design in Jacksonville, Fla.

   Choi of Frederick, Md. and Seumanutafa of Emmitsburg, Md. battled the less-than-ideal conditions to card a 5-under-par 67 over the 5,998-yard, par-72 Kennett Square layout, matching the total put up by the junior pair of Sarah Beqaj of Canada and her partner Britta Snyder, the reigning Iowa girls Class AAA champion from Ames, Iowa.

   Choi, who captured the Maryland Junior Girls’ title this summer, did a lot of the heavy lifting during the round, but Seumanutafa, as so often happens in team play, came up big when needed.

   Choi chipped in for birdie at the second and fired a 6-iron to five feet at the par-3 third and made the putt to get the Maryland pair going. Choi holed a 10-foot birdie putt after hitting a 4-iron to 10 feet at the par-4 10^th before the team gave a shot back when neither player could do better than a bogey at the 15^th.

   But Choi more than made up for that misstep when she bombed a 3-wood from 210 yards away onto the green at the par-5 16^th and made a 15-footer for eagle.

   Seumanutafa, who will join the Ohio State golf program in January, then reached the par-5 17^th in two and her two-putt birdie got the pair to 5-under.

   Seumanutafa’s length paid off on the second hole of the playoff, another par-5. With a drenching shower hitting the course, Seumantafa nestled a chip shot from just over the green to three feet and made the putt to punch a ticket to Jacksonville for her and Choi.

   “We’ve played in the (Four-Ball) before, but never together, which we’ve always wanted to do,” Seumantafa told the GAP website.

   Beqaj and Snyder had to settle for first alternate. The second alternate was the team of Rylie Heflin, a sophomore at Tower Hill who captured the 2017 Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ title and was the runnerup this summer, and Maisie Filler, a junior standout from Bloomfield, Conn. Heflin of Avondale and Filler carded a 1-under 71.

   There were some interesting pairings among the other five teams that competed in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball qualifier.

   Fourth place went to the Wilmington, Del. pair of Phoebe Brinker, a junior at Archmere Academy, and Jennifer Cleary, a junior at Tower Hill, who posted a 2-over 74.

   This same week a year ago, Brinker and Cleary were leading Delaware to a runnerup finish in the final edition of the USGA Women’s State Team Championship at The Club of Las Campanas’ Sunrise Course in Santa Fe, N.M. Brinker was the runnerup in the individual scoring in a strong field of juniors, mid-ams and seniors from all over the country.

   Fifth place went to a couple of rising junior stars, Sydney Yermish of Wynnewood and Angelina Tolentino of Mount Laurel, N.J. as they teamed up for a 4-over 76.

   Yermish has had a big last few months, earning a trip to the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at the Poppy Hills Golf Course on northern California’s Monterey Peninsula and then qualifying for the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals in the 12-13 division, which will be played at Augusta National Golf Club the Sunday of Masters week in April.

   Sixth place went to former Harriton standout Avi Hockfield and former Springfield standout Samantha Miller, who wrapped up a solid collegiate career at East Stroudsburg last spring. The duo carded a 78.

   Coatesville’s Allison Long, who qualified for next month’s U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship at the Orchid Island Golf & Beach Club in Vero Beach, Fla., and Angie Whitely Coleman of New Castle, Del. finished seventh with an 83.

   Rounding out the field was the team of Sawyer Brockstedt, the Rehoboth Beach, Del. youngster who finished tied for fourth in the 10-11 division in last spring’s Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals at Augusta National, and Ellison Lundquist of Furlong. They posted an 84.