Audrey Brust (Championship), Christy Atencio (Silver State Division Gross) and Katie Keller (Silver State Division Net) won championships at the 2023 Nevada State Women’s Amateur. The tournament was held June 19-20, 2023, on The Challenge Course at The Club at ArrowCreek in Reno.–by Bill Bowman, Las Vegas Golf Insider
Championship
Audrey Brust had three birdies over a four-hole stretch in the first round and cruised to a five-shot victory in the Championship Division.
It was the first state title for Brust who just finished up her freshman season at Santa Clara University in California.
“I’m really excited to win,” she said. “I came close in high school (Bishop Manogue in Reno) but never made it all the way. I’m really happy to have a state title under my belt heading into the rest of the summer.”
She said having mom and dad (Clay and Shannon) around during the tournament helped calm her.
“My dad caddying for me and my mom there for support really made me feel more comfortable,” she said.
She added her college coach, Krystal Kelly, also has offered words of wisdom that have helped her game and her approach.
“I learned a lot about course management from her,” Brust said. “She’s really helped me work my way around a course…picking the safest places to miss shots, where to be aggressive and where the best scoring opportunities are.”
She added that in the end, it all came down to playing smart golf.
“With as windy as it was, I was just focusing on not making any dumb decisions,” she said. “At the end of the day, pars are a good thing.”
Despite the win, Brust said there is still work to be done on improving her game.
“I need to work on my lag putting, for sure,” she said. “I did leave myself some four-footers for par that made it a grind. I also have to narrow down my misses with my irons. In the first round I had some pretty bad misses. I need to narrow down those misses.”
Championship
Audrey Brust, 75-74—149
Karen Beglin, 79-75—154
Kaitlin Fleiner, 81-83—164
Chandeni Sendall, 85-79—164
Silver State Division-Gross
Christy Atencio recorded two birdies over the two days, both of them on the par-3 17th, and breezed to the Silver State Division gross title.
Atencio has been an amateur state champ multiple times–including once when she was six-months pregnant–and said this one was quite the battle.
“It was pretty windy…especially the first day,” she said. “It made it very tough for everyone.”
Overall, she said her play both days was solid with a couple of exceptions.
“I just had about four holes that really killed me,” she said. “Other than that I played pretty solid and I really played the 17th well both days.”
She said one of those holes that didn’t sit well with her was her final hole of the tournament.
“I took a nine on my last hole (the 15th),” she said with a laugh. “I was hitting the ball well. This hole was just a bunker problem. I was in the bunker and flew it about a million miles over the green and never found the ball. I dropped it back in the bunker and then, of course, I chunked it and left it in the bunker. Then I hit it over the green again. I managed to make about a 15-footer to not go to a ‘10’. It was ugly. In the end I had a 39 on the back nine with that nine on the last hole. I was thinking…just get me off this golf course.”
Now it’s on to a little trip across the Pond…filled with golf, of course.
“We’re actually leaving tomorrow (Wednesday) and going to Ireland,” she said. “We’re really looking forward to it. We went to Scotland five years ago and played 14 rounds in 13 days. This time we have about 10 rounds planned but hopefully we will put a few more rounds in there.”
Silver State Division-Gross
Christy Atencio, 81-79—160
Lisa Ciorciari, 89-95—184
Jean Walsh, 95-95—190
Silver State Division-Net
Over the two days of the tournament, Katie Keller played holes 13 through 17 in six-under-par with six net birdies in posting a four-stroke victory.
That stretch of holes helped her win her first state title.
“The whole back nine helped me out a lot both days,” she said. “I was very happy to hang in and win.”
She added her play off the tee was the key.
“I was in the fairway just about every time,” she said. “I was happy getting into a good spot. I didn’t hit every green in regulation and I had to scramble here and there but I never gave up.”
She said winning her first state title is great. But she added in a disclaimer.
“I have to take into consideration that it was the Net title,” she said. “It wasn’t like Audrey or Christy in the gross part of the tournament but I felt pretty good being able to hang in there and come away with a state title.”
Overall, Keller said the title validates her hard work is paying off.
“Talking with one person, she said ‘the more you play, the more scars you’ll have,’ ” she said. “It makes you feel good when you stick it out, get through it and come out on top.”
Silver State Division-Net
Katie Keller, 75-72—147
Amy Nelson, 74-77—151
Lisa Mantkus, 74-83—157
