If a golfer is competing in a match play tournament, she usually has to beat two things: Her opponent and the course.
Sometimes the weather steps in and gives golfers a third obstacle to overcome. Westfield’s Cailyn Henderson encountered that Thursday when she played Plainfield’s Kayla Benge in the final of the Indiana Women’s Golf Association Match Play Championship, which wrapped up that day at Purgatory Golf Club in Noblesville.
Despite delays due to thunderstorms on Thursday morning, Henderson persevered to win the final. She finished strong with back-to-back birdies for a 3 and 1 victory over Benge. Henderson thus won her first-ever IWGA Match Play Championship, as well as her first overall IWGA tournament victory.
Henderson qualified for match play by finishing in the top 16 of the stroke play event that started the tournament, then won four matches to claim the trophy.
“The first couple days were great weather-wise, and then this last day, it was definitely tough out there,” said Henderson. “We waited for probably two and a half hours in the clubhouse, maybe a little bit less. Kayla and I really had to persevere through that and get through some bad weather.”
The final was scheduled to start a few minutes before 8 a.m., but didn’t get done until well after 2 p.m. due to the weather delays. Once Henderson was in a winning position, she quickly closed the final over Benge, who she called “a great competitor.”
Henderson was 1 up after 15 holes. She birdied to win the 16th hole to go 2 up, giving her a “dormie,” which means her lead was equal to the number of holes left to play. Henderson then clinched the win by chipping in a birdie on No. 17.
“The last two birdies felt very good,” said Henderson.
This was the second significant tournament win for Henderson over the past two months. In May, she won individual medalist honors at the NCAA Division II regional, which took place at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel May 3 to 5.
Henderson, playing for the University of Indianapolis, finished with a three-day score of 219, three over par. She also helped the Greyhounds to a team championship that qualified them for the national tournaments, where they reached the final eight.
“I loved winning that one, because it was at Prairie View, a course that I’m really familiar with,” said Henderson. “So that one was a lot of fun to win, and I just want to keep it rolling. That’s my goal this summer, just to keep all the winning rolling.”
Henderson will play next at the US Women’s Amateur Qualifier on July 14 at Westfield Country Club in Westfield Center, Ohio. She hopes to have success in that one in order to play in the U.S. Women’s Amateur, which is set for Aug. 2-8 at Westchester Country Club in Rye, N.Y.
CESARE ADVANCES TO BOYS STATE JUNIOR SEMIS
Westfield’s Alec Cesare made his way into the semi-finals of the Indiana Golf Association’s Boys State Junior Championship, which is taking place at Purdue University’s Ackerman-Allen Course.
Cesare, a junior-to-be for the Shamrocks, beat two Bloomfield golfers to advance. First, he got past Jason Bannister 2 and 1 in a Round of 16 match. Cesare then won an even-closer quarter-final match over Happy Gilmore, clinching the victory in 19 holes.
Cesare was one of four Hamilton County golfers that reached the Round of 16. His soon-to-be Westfield teammate, incoming freshman Will Harvey, won his Round of 16 match over Sellersburg’s Carter Smith 1 up before falling in the quarter-finals to McCordsville’s Sam McWilliams, also 1 up. Cesare and McWilliams will face off in today’s semi-finals.
The other semi-final pairing is yet to be determined. Fishers’ Cole Starnes advanced to the quarters by beating Valparaiso’s Aidan Guiterrez 5 and 4, but he was unable to complete his quarter-final match with Peru’s Kash Bellar. That match will be finished today. Bellar beat Carmel’s Patrick Michael in the Round of 16 by the score of 3 and 2. The winner of the Starnes-Bellar match will play Fort Wayne’s Alex Holder in the semis.