There are wins and then there are WINS!

Anna Morgan got one of those WINS on Saturday when she won the Putter Boy trophy as the North & South Women’s Amateur Champion.

The Furman golfer defeated Washington State’s Madelyn Gamble 5 & 3 in the championship match on the legendary Pinehurst #2 course..

“This means so, so much,” Morgan said. “Until you get one of those really big wins, it’s kind of hard to believe.”

The Lady Paladin golfer from Spartanburg started the tournament as the 17th seed and almost didn’t get past first round opponent, Clemson golfer Katherine Schuster.

Morgan came to the 18th hole with a 1 up lead, but trouble off the tee meant going to a playoff rather then the clubhouse.

“All I had to do was put it in the fairway, and unfortunately I was not able to do so,” Morgan said.

The playoff went to the 20th hole before Morgan was able to close out Schuster and advance to the round of 16.

After the difficult first round match Morgan faced the top seed in the field, Arizona St’s Ashley Menne.

Morgan collected a solid 4 & 2 win over the medalist and in the round of 8 scored a 5&3 win over Princeton golfer Sophie Zhang-Murphy,

The win sent Morgan into the final four for the third time and being the runner-up in 2021.

“To be coming back for the third year, that in itself, I think means a lot to me. Honestly, to be in the top four of this event the last three years, if anything, it confirms all of the belief in myself and where my game is.”

The semi-final and final rounds are played in one day and Morgan took a 3&2 victory over Colorado’s Sabrina Iqbal to set up the final match with Gamble.

After struggling off the tee in the first three days of the tournament, Morgan put in some extra time on the range and it paid off .

Morgan built the win by going 2 up after three holes and then adding to the lead to stand at 4 up on 16 after sinking a 50 foot birdie putt.

With the outcome clearly in Morgan’s favor the SoCon player of the year birdied number 15 for her third birdie in the last five holes to win the North & South championship with a 5 & 3 victory.

“Pinehurst No. 2 is a beast, and for some reason for the last two or three days of golf, I’ve made it look easy, and I’m still not quite sure how,” Morgan said.

The Furman senior had been playing in the event since she was 12 years old. With a professional career in the near future this was Morgan’s last chance to win.

With a large family following at the event Morgan could share the win with many of the most important people in her life.

“I just have the most supportive family, and coaches, and friends and team, and it just seemed like so many people here and everywhere were pulling for me. Obviously, I wanted to WIN it for myself, but I wanted to win it for everyone else,” concluded Morgan.

Some information in this report was originally published on line at http://www.pinehurst.com and authored by Alex Podlogar.