After earning one of final spots in match play via playoff at U.S. Women’s Amateur, Leigha Devine of Windsor falls in round of 64 to medalist Maria Jose Marin
By Gary Baines – 8/7/2024
It was quite a feat for Windsor resident Leigha Devine to make the 64-player match-play portion of the U.S. Women’s Amateur.
After a triple bogey to open her second round of stroke play — and a bogey at No. 3 — she needed to play her final 15 holes in 3 under just to advance to a record 20-person playoff for the final match-play berths.
Then early Wednesday morning at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Devine earned one of the very last spots into the 64-golfer match-play bracket.
Her reward for all that hard work? A 64th seed, which meant an opening match against the stroke-play medalist — and No. 1 seed — awaited her.
Specifically, her opponent on Wednesday was Maria Jose Marin of Colombia, who is ranked No. 15 in the world among female amateurs. Marin, a semifinalist in the 2022 U.S. Girls’ Junior, is coming off a college season at Arkansas in which she was named the Freshman of the Year in the Southeastern Conference and a first-team All-American by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association.
Basically, it was a very tough first-round draw for Devine, a two-time CGA Women’s Player of the Year and a former Rutgers University golfer.
Marin birdied three holes on the front nine to go 3 up, then cruised to a 6-and-5 victory. She won holes 11, 12 and 13 — with a par, bogey and birdie, respectively — to close things out.
Devine finished 5 over par for 13 holes in the round of 64, while Marin was 1 under.
In the 20-for-10 playoff that began the day — the largest in U.S. Women’s Amateur history — Devine advanced with a par on the first hole and a bogey on the second, which was good for one of the final three spots in match play.
Meanwhile, the player who won last year’s U.S. Girls’ Junior at the Air Force Academy, Kiara Romero of San Jose, easily advanced to the round of 32, defeating Chloe Johnson of Evansville, Ind., 5 and 4.
Results for Coloradans competing in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Southern Hills CC in Tulsa:
STROKE PLAY MONDAY AND TUESDAY
55. Leigha Devine, Windsor 79-72–151
Failed to advance. Ashley Kozłowski, Littleton 79-73–152
MATCH PLAY ROUND OF 64 WEDNESDAY
Maria Jose Marin, Colombia def. Leigha Devine, Windsor, 6 and 5
For all the results, CLICK HERE.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com