Beaver Dam’s McKenna Nelson brought home the Wisconsin Junior Girls Match Play Championship with an exciting finish this week at Hartford Golf Course. The Beaver Dam High School junior had a birdie 3 on 18 to square the match and then defeated Tatum Oswald of Beloit with a par on the 2nd extra hole. The championship match started on Wednesday and finished this morning because of the rain.
Nelson was the #2 seed in Match Play portion of the championshipo after firing a 4-under par 70 on Monday to tie Bela Dodd of Brookfield for medalist honors heading into the match play portion of the event. In the opening match of bracket play, Nelson stopped Addison Johannes of Hartland 3&2, then picked up another 3&2 win over defending champ Aliisa Helminen of Menasha to earn a spot in the semifinals. It only took Nelson 14 holes to earn a spot in the championship round with a 5&4 blowout of Daniella Honkamp of Whitefish Bay.
Nelson led all players with 17 birdies during the match play event. The win also earned Nelson a spot in the USGA Girls Junior Championship next July at Old Chatham Golf Club in Durham, North Carolina.
The defending WIAA Division One State Champion will have a pair of events before jumping back into high school action for Beaver Dam on August 11th. Beaver Dam’s first meet of the season is August 14th at Watertown Country Club.
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