LET Member Nanna Koerstz Madsen, who was No. 79 in the world according to the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings at the start of the week, won the duel with Mariah Stackhouse (Riverdale, Georgia) to claim her first Symetra Tour victory on Sunday at the Symetra Classic. Madsen posted a 4-under, 68 at Atlanta National Golf Club to come from two shots back to win by two shots at 11-under, 205. Daniela Darquea (Quito, Ecuador) shared second place with Stackhouse, who turned in an even-par, 72 on the final day.
“I’m feeling very good right now, it feels great to win,” said Madsen. “I didn’t actually play very well at the start, but after hole five I made four birdies in a row and things changed.”
Madsen started with three pars and then caught fire. She made five birdies over the final six holes on the front nine to catch and pass Stackhouse at the turn by one shot. Stackhouse proceeded to make birdie on 10 and then the back-and-forth duel began. Koerstz Madsen three-putted 11 to hand Stackhouse a one shot lead, which she held until a bogey on 14 evened the score. Stackhouse made costly bogeys on 16 and 17 while Madsen made par on both.
“The back nine was a bit tough today,” said Madsen. “The wind picked up and on 14,16 and 17 it was just good to make par. You won a shot on the field if you made par and I was able to do that.”
Darquea made six birdies on the day and just one bogey to close with a 5-under, 67 to get in the clubhouse at 9-under. Madsen stood at 10-under on the 18th tee and Stackhouse was at 8-under. Both made easy two-putt birdies on the last.
“After I hit my approach shot, a few people said congratulations so I figured I just needed to two putt,”
explained Koerstz Madsen. “I knew I’d be fine so that was comforting.”
Madsen made a three-foot birdie on the last and was doused with water by Hannah Green, who won last week at the Sara Bay Classic. The two were staying together with a local host family near the course.
Madsen, 22, won on the Ladies European Tour (LET) in June, at the Tipsport Golf Masters in the Czech Republic and represented Denmark at the 2016 Olympic Games.
