PNGA Hall of Famer Lara Tennant wins California Senior Women’s Am
Lara Tennant of Portland, Ore. dominated from start to finish at Seven Oaks Country Club in Bakersfield, Calif., going wire-to-wire to take home her second California Senior Women’s Amateur Championship in four years, having also won it in 2020.
“This is a great championship, a great win,” said Tennant, who was inducted into the Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. “Any time you can win a state championship that’s a great thing to add to your resume. I’m very excited and proud.”
Tennant, who is a three-time winner of the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship and earlier this year won the Irish and Scottish Senior Women’s Amateurs in back-to-back weeks, showed why she’s been so successful on the national and international stage. She was the only player in the field to card a round under par, a 69 on day one to open a three-stroke advantage. She was particularly steady with pars, converted four birdies and made one mistake with a bogey on the sixth hole.
“The course was playing tough,” said Tennant. “I think I putted very well. The greens were excellent, so I figured those out early on Monday and just had a great week of putting.”
Her nearest chasers were Karen Garcia and multiple-time SCGA Senior Women’s Player of the Year Kathy Kurata, who each logged 72’s in their opening 18. Tennant, Garcia and Kurata each shot 75 on Tuesday to retain the top three spots on the leaderboard.
Tennant entered the final round on Wednesday with a three-stroke advantage and immediately put the petal to the metal with birdies on holes two and six. Garcia and Kurata could hardly keep up, each of them shooting one-over in that same six-hole stretch.
Tennant’s lead had doubled to six strokes, and stayed that way for the majority of the final 12 holes. She sandwiched birdies on 10 and 12 with a double-bogey on 11. Despite two more bogeys, Tennant had never come close to surrendering her lead.
“I played good golf and I feel like it was a good cap to my season,” said Tennant. “It’s always wonderful to win a championship, especially such a great championship of this caliber. It was really special.”
She ended shooting even-par 72 for the day and wound up winning by seven strokes. Garcia finished in solo second place while Corey Weworski took home third.
“I dedicated this to my friend Nancy McDaniel, who passed away a week ago,” said Tennant. “She was just inducted into the NCGA Hall of Fame, so this one was for her.”
