Aug. 1, 2009

By Chad Conine
For texastech.com

After battling through four rounds of match play, Texas Tech senior Rosalyn Kim came up short in the final match at the Women's Texas Golf Association State Amateur Championship on Friday at Ridgewood Country Club.

Huntsville's Stacy Dennis, the 2004 WTGA State Am champion, defeated Kim, 5 and 3, in the final match of the championship flight to claim the title.

Dennis and Kim were the top two qualifiers in Monday's 18-holes of stroke-play qualifying. Dennis set a Ridgewood women's competitive course record with a score of 6-under-par 66, while Kim shot 69.

Kim then defeated a pair of Texas Tech teammates -- incoming freshman Gabriella Dominguez in the second round and junior Alexandra Gibson in the semifinals -- to reach Friday's final.

However, Dennis claimed a two-hole lead through the front nine, then closed out the match with birdies on holes 11 and 15.

As a veteran of match play, Dennis expertly applied pressure to Kim from early in the round. Kim hadn't trailed by more than a hole in the first four rounds, but didn't have the iron game going quite the same way in the final.

"The execution wasn't there," Kim said. "I think I was pressing a little more than I should have knowing that I was down."

Facing a five-foot putt for bogey, while Dennis had a five-footer for birdie, Kim conceded the match on Ridgewood's par-4 No. 15.