By JAMES BROWN
104TheScore.com
Former Glasgow golfer Abbie Lee won the 96th Women’s State Amateur on Wednesday at the University Club of Kentucky – Big Blue Course. In the process, Lee beat former high school teammate Nina McMurtrey in the final match, 1-up, and Glasgow native Taryn Walker 2 and 1 to reach the final.
Lee is entering her senior year at Middle Tennessee State, while McMurtrey is a junior at Western Kentucky University.
The final match was tight. Lee sank a birdie putt on No. 18 to win, and that was her only lead in the match. McMurtrey was 1-up through the first four holes after getting a birdie on No. 1. McMurtrey sank four birdies on the first nine holes to lead 3-up at the turn.
Lee rallied with birdies on holes 12, 13 and 15 to tie the match. It remained tied until Lee’s birdie on No. 18.
On Day 1 of the amateur, McMurtrey and Mary Keene Marrs, daughter of Glasgow native Benji Marrs, were tied for third in stroke play qualifier at 1-over, 73. Walker was at 2-over 74 and tied for sixth.
Meanwhile, Lee shot 5-over 77 and was tied for 11th. That set her as the 11-seed for the match play portion of the tournament. She beat Elizabeth Eberle 2 and 1, and Macie Brown, 4 and 3.
McMurtrey was the five seed in match play. She beat CA Carter, 1-up, and Marrs, 2 and 1 in the round of 8. In the semifinal match, McMurtrey downed Marta Lopez Echeverria, 1-up.
Walker, who won the amateur in 2005, was the seven seed. She beat Ella Scherer, 3 and 1, and Kylah Lunsford, 1-up, before losing to Lee in the semifinal round.
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