EAST BRANDYWINE, Pa. (August 23, 2011) – In only its first full year as a Philadelphia area private country club, Applecross CC has made its mark on the competitive golf world.
Kelli Pry, a 22-year-old Applecross member who has honed her game with Applecross Director of Instruction Eric MacCluen, won the Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur Championship.
Pry, who graduated from Coatesville High School and is now entering her senior year at the University of South Florida, notched the first major championship of her career after five days of competition at the Country Club of York.
After qualifying, Pry found herself as the 10th seed as the tournament entered the match play portion. After grinding through a semi-final match that took 20 holes to complete, Pry found herself facing Kate Scarpetta in the final.
Pry won the first hole and took a lead that she would not relinquish until the 17th hole. When Scarpetta won that hole, the match was all square going to 18. With extra holes looking like a strong possibility, Pry drained a 35-foot birdie putt on the 18th green to secure the title.
MacCluen, who has been teaching Pry for more than six years, was understandably impressed with his star pupil.
“Kelli hits the ball a long way,” said MacCluen. “Putting is where she needs to get better. It’s just a matter of time until she puts it all together. A lot of people feel she has Tour talent.”
“I had to play people above me in the matches all week and that sort of fueled the fire for me a bit,” she explained. “It was a long week of match play and that forced me to show a bit of mental toughness.
“Right now I just want to keep playing as well as I did in the Championship and continue it through the college season. This really opened the door for me and will help me take my game to the next level.”
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