KAMAS, Utah — Current BYU golfer Kendra Dalton defeated former teammate Lea Garner in the final round of match play at the 110th Utah Women's State Amateur on Friday.
“It feels so good to have my hard work pay off,” Dalton said. “It was a great final match between Lea and I. I have always looked up to Lea and she gave a great fight today. It feels good to have dealt with the nerves and to have played well.”
Dalton beat Garner 1up through 18 holes of competition. The junior-to-be controlled the match early, staying 1up on Garner through five holes. Garner, the recently graduated BYU senior, then birdied the par-3 sixth hole to square up the match. Garner continued her good play, birdying the eighth and ninth holes to go 2up on Dalton.
Dalton then retaliated and tied up the match again, beating Garner on holes 10 and 11. Dalton went on to beat Garner 1up, shooting one stroke better on the last seven holes.
Although she fell to Dalton in the match-play final, Garner repeated as the medalist in the stroke-play portion of the event. The former Cougar shot even par through two rounds at Victory Ranch Golf Club. Brooklyn Hocker finished just one stroke behind Garner, shooting a two-round total of 1-over-par in stroke play.
Garner, Dalton and Hocker represented BYU as three out of four participants advancing to the semifinals. Dalton defeated Dixie State junior Cobair Collinsworth to advance to the finals, while Garner won the match over Hocker 1up.