Betty Armbruster won the very first door prize awarded Tuesday afternoon at the Upstate Ladies Amateur Championship at Holly Tree.

Talk about a good day.

Armbruster was a three-time winner on Tuesday.

The Spartanburg golfer claimed that first door prize. She was closest-to-the-pin on hole no. 15 in the second round.

And she took home the biggest prize of all, shooting back-to-back rounds of 77, finishing at 10-over-par in the two-day event and beating Lea Venable in a two-hole playoff for the tournament’s overall title.

“I played well both days,” Armbruster said. “I hit some good approach shots. And on short puts, I started using a tip that one of our pros at Carolina Country Club showed me. He told me how to hold my left hand, and it helped me. I was making some putts that I often miss.”

Armbruster made the most of hitting it tight on 15, converting a birdie, one of two on the back side. She needed it, as a bogey at the par-5 18th paired with Venable’s par left the two deadlocked after regulation play.

The playoff sent them right back up 18, and Armbruster didn’t like her chances.

“I’m so much shorter than she is,” Armbruster said. 

However, Armbruster’s third shot left her just off the green, maybe even a little closer than Venable’s third, which found the huge double green but drifted away.

Neither could convert long birdie attempts, nor could they save par, and a pair of bogeys sent them to the tee at the 10th.

Armbruster found the middle of the fairway with her driver, but Venable’s length off the tee turned into a disadvantage as she had an awkward sidehill lie that she was able to advance down the fairway. Armbruster promptly hit her second inside of 10 feet. From there, she was able to make a routine par for the win.

“I hit a driver, and I think she hit a hybrid and it went too far and it hurt her,” Armbruster said.

Armbruster enjoyed the tournament, and particularly the win.

“We’ve had a great time,” she said. “And Holly Tree treated us so well. The course was in great shape, and really played well.”