Two Colorado Amateurs in Hunt
at Colorado Women’s Open

But defending champ Satarak 5 ahead going into final round

By Gary Baines

Colorado Golf Journal, Thursday, May 29, 2008

    DENVER -- Only five players in the history of Colorado girls high school golf have won more than one state title during their prep careers. And now it largely may be up to two of them whether a Coloradan wins the HealthOne Colorado Women’s Open for the first time in the new millennium.
    An in-state resident hasn’t captured the Women’s Open title since 1999, and the hopes of Colorado going into Friday’s final round primarily rest on 2005 champion Erin Houtsma, who recently moved from Phoenix to Denver, and amateurs Becca Huffer and Ashley Tait.
    Huffer recently won her second 5A state high school championship -- this one by a whopping 13 strokes -- and Tait claimed three 4A state individual championships while playing for Mullen (2002, ’04 and ’05).
    Huffer (1-under-par 71 Thursday for a 146 total) and Houtsma (75-146) share second place going into the final round, while Tait (72 Thursday) is another stroke behind.
    But catching leader Walailak Satarak won‘t be easy. A native of Thailand who now lives near Los Angeles, Satarak put herself in prime position to win her second straight Women’s Open by firing a 3-under-par 69, her best score ever at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club. The only sub-70 round of the

At Par-72 Green Valley Ranch GC in Denver

a-indicates amateur

Walailak Satarak, Thailand 72-69--141

a-Becca Huffer, Denver 75-71--146

Erin Houtsma, Denver 71-75--146

a-Ashley Tait, Littleton 75-72--147

Stephanie Ruiz, Edmond, Okla. 75-73--148

Lacey Jones, Idabel, Okla. 73-75--148

Amanda Costner, Claremore, Okla. 74-75--149

a-Kristin Walla, Aspen 72-78--150

Lisa DePaulo, Austin, Texas 76-75--151

Jessica Reese, Austin, Texas 75-76--151

Helen Oh, Australia 79-72--151

Elena Robles, Redondo Beach, Calif. 74-77--151

a-Amber Ward, Westminster 79-73--152

a-Rachel Larson, Longmont 74-78--152

a-Brooke Collins, Louisville 80-72--152

Trisha Self, Littleton 77-75--152

Kailin Downs, Bend, Ore. 80-72--152

Jen Hanna, Greenville, S.C. 76-76--152

Heather Wright, Houston 81-71--152

HEALTHONE  COLORADO  WOMEN’S  OPEN

tournament left her with a five-stroke lead going into Friday’s final round. She stands at 3-under-par 141 after two days.
    “I’m here to defend my title, and I‘m going to do that,” said the 24-year-old pro, who was the 2007 Player of the Year on the Canadian Women’s Tour. “I like this course. I love Dye (designed) layouts. All the holes make sense.”
    They certainly did on Thursday, when Satarak racked up six birdies.
    As for some of Satarak’s closest pursuers, while low-amateur honors in the tournament would certainly be nice, Huffer and Tait haven’t given up on the overall prize just yet.
    Asked her approach going into Friday, Huffer said, “Go win both.”
    Added Tait: “I want to be low amateur, but I also think I can compete with the pros out here.”
    Huffer, a Notre Dame recruit, chalked up six birdies Thursday, but also suffered three bogeys and one double bogey, where she 4-putted. She offset that gaffe with birdie putts of 50, 20, 15, 10, 5 and 2 feet.
    “I’m playing pretty well,” she said. “It’s a tough course, so it’s nice to shoot under par.”
    Tait has her work cut out to win the title Friday, but she’s certainly faced adversity before. After winning her third state high school title in 2005, Tait went to Tulane in New Orleans in August of that year to start her college career. But Hurricane Katrina almost immediately threw her a big-time curveball.
    Just a few months after Katrina left massive destruction in its wake, the Tulane women’s golf program was disbanded, and Tait was left scrambling to find a new college at which to play golf. She landed at North Carolina-Wilmington, and has since won a Colonial Athletic Association conference title as a freshman and finished second this year as a sophomore.
    The transition in quickly going from Tulane to N.C.-Wilmington “wasn’t that difficult,” Tait said. “I’ve just put the year at Tulane behind me.”
    On Thursday, Tait shot her 72 despite missing a 3-foot putt and three-putting twice. “I should have shot in the 60s,” she said.
    If Huffer or Tait -- or another other amateur -- would rally to win Friday, it would mark just the second time an amateur has captured the Women’s Open title, following Paige Mackenzie, who prevailed in 2006.
    First-day leader Houtsma, who’s finished in the top six in four of the last five Colorado Women’s Opens, would have been much more in contention had she not finished her second round with a double bogey on her final hole, where she hit her second shot into the hazard.
    “It was kind of a disappointing day,” said the former University of Colorado golfer, who noted her putting left much to be desired. With five shots to make up, she may need some help from Mother Nature on Friday to bridge the gap.
    “I would love for the wind to blow like crazy,” Houtsma said. “I’d like it to be a hard day for everyone. I used to play some of my best golf in Boulder when the wind blew. … I just seem to play better in the wind. I think I get a lot more patient with myself. Maybe I should try using that when the wind isn’t blowing.”
    The 36-hole leaders will tee off at 10:10 a.m. Friday.
    The 39 competitors who shot 158 or better survived the 36-hole cut.