special events
Mission Accomplished for PXG Women’s Match Play Championship The mission of the PXG Women’s Match
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Play Championship was fairly simple: shine a light on the developmental level of women’s professional golf and create playing opportunities for these women by extending their season with a new event. Players and organizers may have extended the season more than they expected as it took 224 holes - 36 holes in the rain-shortened
Sunset over the 9th green of the Slammer & Squire Golf Course, looking off the VIP Hospitality Deck of the Slammer & Squire.
54-hole stroke play seeding event and then 188 grueling match play holes the following week for Jessica Porvasnik to prevail as the its first champion. Held October 25 – November 4 at World Golf Village and using both courses, Porvasnik was the top seed in the match play event, having won the Stroke Play title at King & Bear. Porvasnik (Hinckley, OH) dominated at Slammer and Squire Golf Course in first-ever double round robin Pod Play Points format in which the 64 players were broken into 16 groups of four, each playing one another twice, with one point being awarded for each hole. She won her group by 8 points, showing why she was the #1 overall seed. Her consistent play, her ability to make big putts, and her steely resolve simply proved too much for her competition to handle. But it wasn't easy. In the final match she ran into New Zealander, Julianne Alvarez, the 14th overall seed. Alvarez pulled off the first upset in the matchplay bracket by defeating 2-seed, Sofia Garcia, fresh off of advancing to this month’s LPGA Q School Final Series. Alvarez is no stranger to the big stage, or to match play. The 2016 National Champion at the University of Washington has also won the New Zealand Amateur,
The very first shot at the Inaugural PXG Women’s Match Play Championship, hosted in the Slammer & Squire golf course at World Golf Village in St. Augustine, FL.
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Golf Central • Volume 22, Issue 8
