This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Ballwin's Dolan Reflects on Landmark Victory

Catherine Dolan wins the 73rd Missouri Women's Amateur Golf Tournament, and shares her thoughts on what this means to her.

Catherine Dolan entered the Missouri Women's Amateur Tournament playing better than any other female golfer in the metro area.

The Ballwin native and senior-to-be at Missouri State University ended the tournament as the champion in the 73rd MWGA Tournament.

"I had only played in this tournament one or two other times because of conflicts in schedules," said Dolan, a 2008 Parkway West graduate who won the state Class 2 title in her senior year.

"I had been playing well and really wanted to win it. I feel blessed to have my name on a trophy with so many of the top golfers in the state."

The name that is on the trophy seven times, Ellen Port, was the player Dolan had to catch on the final day of the tournament. Port entered the final day of the 54-hole event with a three-shot lead.

"I knew I would have to go pretty low and get my share of birdies," Dolan said.

She would do that, especially on the front nine as she had four birdies to go along with a pair of bogeys. That gave Dolan the lead at the turn and she was able to maintain it with a solid back nine for her second straight round of 71.

"I was hitting the ball pretty well overall," Dolan said. "But I think the key for me in the tournament was my putting. In the last year or so that has been a strength of my game."

The Missouri Amateur was played this year at the legendary Bellerive Country Club in Town and Country.

"It is actually the first time that I have played Bellerive," Dolan said. "I have always wanted to play it. It is a great course and a great challenge. It is a course which can reward you or punish you."

Dolan was rewarded most of the time, especially in the final two rounds. Dolan struggled somewhat in the first round with a 77.

"I am normally mentally tough," Dolan said. "But it was an extremely hot day and I let that affect me. I did not have the focus that I needed. I still kept it together enough that I did not shoot myself out of the tournament."

Dolan won by two strokes over Kayla Eckelkamp of Washington, who followed rounds of 75 and 79 with a sparkling 67 on the final day.

Dolan has enjoyed a very good collegiate career at Missouri State. She finished in the top 20 in all five of her tournaments as a freshman and has led the Bears in scoring the past two seasons. She was ranked first in the Missouri Valley Conference last year by Golfstat.

Her 2011 summer has featured a second-place finish in the Metropolitan Tournament. Dolan then finished in the top 16 in the Publinx Tournament, which was held in Oregon. Dolan survived 36 holes of stroke play, qualifying by one stroke as one of the top 64 for match play. She won a pair of matches two-and-one, including one in which she was down by four strokes after eight holes.

The rest of her summer includes tournaments in Wyoming and Arkansas.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Ballwin-Ellisville