Feature
by Mike Sorensen
Mike Sorensen is a sportswriter for the Deseret Morning News

Fall - November - 05
And Rachel Makes Three
Rachel Newren Wins The State Am

On a warm August afternoon at Hidden Valley Country Club, Rachel Newren joined sisters Natalie and Nicole as a Utah Women’s Amateur champion.

Rachel outdueled her college coach, Sue Nyhus, to win the State Am by one stroke and bring a third trophy to the Newren home.

Two of the first people to greet the new champion with hugs were Natalie, the 2001 champion and Nicole, the reigning champion. Neither were playing in this year’s event – Nicole because she was a couple of weeks away from delivering her first child and Natalie because she was busy getting ready for her own wedding.

Rachel had gone into the final hole tied with Nyhus, the BYU women’s golf coach who had won two State Ams of her own. It looked like a certain playoff, but Nyhus three-putted the final hole, missing a five-foot birdie after Newren two-putted.

“I kind of didn’t want it to end there, but at the same time, I wanted to win,” Newren said. “Then to see the look on my sisters’ faces – it was a good sight to see.”

Just like Newren, the 42-year-old Nyhus had mixed feelings about the outcome. She really wanted to add a third State Amateur title in a third decade after winning in 1985 when she was known as Sue Billek and again in 1999. But the mother of three also couldn’t help rooting for Newren like she does as her college golf coach.

“I had to work hard to stay in my own game,” Nyhus said. “I’m not used to playing. I’m used to cheering and wanting her to do well. I really wanted to win it in three different decades and was hoping today might be my day, but it wasn’t.”

For good luck, Rachel decided to wear the same shirt Nicole wore in last year’s State Am as well as one of Natalie’s hats in the final round. She began the final round tied for the lead with 2000 State Am champion Tenille Howe-Slack, two shots ahead of Nyhus and three-time champion Lachell Poffenberger.

The four former champions jockeyed for the lead all afternoon and by the time the final foursome made the turn, Nyhus and Poffenberger were tied for the lead, a stroke ahead of Newren who had fallen back with a double-bogey at the par-3 seventh when she hit her tee shot in the water.

“I thought I’d be ok if I played steady and made a lot of pars, but when I got that double bogey, I was like, ‘Here you go girls.’’’ Newren said.

Poffenberger, a mother of three who lives in Murray, briefly took the outright lead at No. 10 when Nyhus bogeyed. However Poffenberger fell out of contention with bogeys on five of the next six holes. Howe-Slack, who was competing despite being five months pregnant, got off to a slow start and never challenged the leaders.

Nyhus took the lead with a birdie at 12 after her approach shot hit the flagstick, but bogeyed 13 to fall back into a tie with Newren. A bogey at 15 dropped Newren back, but she responded with a birdie at 16, draining a 20-footer.

“The birdie at 16 was huge,” Newren said. “It got me back in it.”

At the par-3 17th, both players missed the green short, and both missed makeable putts, Nyhus from eight feet and Newren from four.

“All I had was a four-footer, but I just yanked it left,’’ Newren said. “My dad (and caddy Brent) almost had a heart attack over that one.’’

So it came down to the par-5 18th, and after good drives, both players hit on to the upslope short of the green. Nyhus’ chip came up 30 feet short, while Newren’s went 15 feet past.

Nyhus’ putt just missed and went 5 feet past, while Newren putted to within 18 inches. Instead of marking her ball, she stepped up and tapped in for par.

“I said ‘I’m getting this done’ “ she said.”I just wanted to get it over with.”

That left Nyhus with her 5-footer. Many of the women who had already finished were watching near the green when Nyhus struck her putt. She said later she had felt confident about the straight putt, but the ball slipped by the left edge, leaving Newren the winner.

Nyhus claimed she didn’t pull it or jab it, saying, “Sometimes that’s the way it goes.’’

Newren finished at 222 with her final-round 75, while Nyhus’ 74 left her at 223. Poffenberger birdied the final hole to finish at 224, while Howe-Slack and Weber State golfer Amy Mombert tied at 225.

Newren started with a 74 in the first round, which left her tied with Poffenberger, two shots behind Nyhus and Howe-Slack. In the second round, Nyhus fell back with a 77, leaving Newren and Howe-Slack tied for the lead at 147.

Newren had spent two of her past three summers away from Utah, working as a golf instructor at a girls camp in upstate New York. This summer she decided to come back early so she could have a shot at winning the title her sisters have won.

“I made sure I was here for this tournament,” said Newren, who expects to defend her title next year after playing another year of collegiate golf for BYU.

Next year will be the 100th Women’s Amateur and it will be played at the Country Club in Salt Lake.

Flight winners included Jodi White, Brittany Roberts, Natalie Neff, Sandy Garcia, Sue Hudson, Cindy Childs and Valerie Aldrich.