WESTMINSTER, Massachusetts – Entering the final day of the 2018 Mildred Prunaret Cup with a 2 ½ point lead over the next pair on the leaderboard, the team of Fran Vandermeer & Kris Herman added another 18 points in the course of their final two-plus matches Tuesday at Westminster Country Club to garner their first event title in the history of the event, an event that dates back to 1953. After completing their third nine-hole match to begin the day, the Taconic Golf Club team halved the fourth match and won the fifth matches to place atop the leaderboard in the final Mass Golf Women’s Tournament of the season.
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In the annual 45- hole better-ball, match play event contested over two days, each team received one point for each hole won, ½ point for each hole halved, and a secondary point awarded to each team that won their match. A total of five nine-hole matches were held at the central Massachusetts course between Monday and Tuesday.
Entering the day with a field leading 15 points thanks to match wins over Erika Allen (Beverly G&TC) & Christine Winfrey (Ipswich CC), 7-3, and Linda Goulet & Gigi Wallace (Presidents GC), 8-2, in two matches Monday, Team Vandermeer & Herman picked right up where they left off by adding to their point total Tuesday morning.
The squad defeated the Sagamore Spring duo of Therea Durkin & Connie Hayton by a final score of 7-3 after winning each of their final five holes and put themselves in a great position to continue ascending up leaderboard as the tournament neared completion.
Standing in the way of Fran Vandermeer & Kris Herman in the fourth match was the likes of Suzanne Panico (Harmon GC) and Ellen Jortberg (Pine Brook CC), who had tallied 10 ½ points through their first three matches.
Starting on the ninth hole, Vandermeer and Herman faltered on their first hole of the nine hole match to Panico/Jortberg, won the second, lost the third and halved the next two to keep it close, but Vandermeer/Herman team was able to tally 2 ½ total points in their final four holes that allowed the match to finish with 4 ½ points apiece and extending their dominace to 26 ½ points through 4 matches, a 4 point margin over the second place team of Lynne Brilliant & Chris Fitzpatrick (Presidents GC), who had tallied 22 ½ points through their first four matches.
In the fifth and final match of the afternoon, team Vandermeer & Herman garnered another 6 ½ points to extend their total to 33 points.
In the final match, the duo defeated Marijke Alsbach & Kim McDowell, both of Presidents GC. Starting on the sixth hole, Alsbach & McDowell won their only hole of the match as McDowell made par for her team’s first point. Vandermeer and Herman won their second hole, halved the next five holes and earned one point in each of their final two holes to conclude play.
In the final match, the duo defeated Marijke Alsbach & Kim McDowell, both of Presidents GC. Starting on the sixth hole, Alsbach & McDowell won their only hole of the match as McDowell made par for her team’s first point. Vandermeer and Herman won their second hole, halved the next five holes and earned one point in each of their final two holes to conclude play.
While Vandermeer & McDowell claimed the overall title, the team of Chris Fitzpatrick and Lynne Brilliant were the top competitors in the ‘A’ flight as they combined to tally 29 1/2 points over their five nine-hole matches.
