After falling just short in a 3-2 loss to Baylor in the semifinals of the NCAA Championship, a few Blue Devils were eager to get right back on the course.
Senior Celine Boutier and sophomores Lisa Maguire and Leona Maguire competed in the Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship June 9-13 at the Portstewart Golf Club in Northern Ireland, with Boutier coming away as the tournament champion after a long week of action. The Montrogue, France, native defeated Linnea Storm 4-and-3 in the championship match and did not look back after taking her first lead of the match on the fifth hole.
“My consistency throughout the week was very helpful as my game was consistently good in all the matches I played,” Boutier wrote in an email. “My physical condition also helped me not get too tired throughout the week.”
The victory punched Boutier's ticket to the RICOH Women's British Open, the U.S. Women's Open and the Evian Championship later this summer as an automatic qualifier. The senior became just the eighth French-born winner of the championship since its inception in 1893.
The British Open Amateur Championship is comprised of two rounds of stroke play followed by sudden-death match play between the top 64 individuals in the tournament.
All three Blue Devils qualified for match play after strong performances during the first two days of action. Playing less than three hours from her hometown of Cavan, Ireland, Leona Maguire locked up the top seed in stroke play at 11-under par after posting 13 birdies and one eagle in her final 29 holes of the first two rounds. Boutier finished tied for the No. 2 seed at five-under par, with Lisa Maguire finishing the first 36 holes tied for 47th at four-over par.
As they moved on to match play, Boutier and Leona Maguire showed no signs of slippage in their play, with each recording a pair of easy victories to advance to the round of 16. But the second day of match play would prove to be tougher as Maguire was knocked off by Joanna Charlton—who had defeated her sister Lisa the day before.
Two more wins in the second stage of match play sent Boutier to the semifinals, where she faced Belgium's Charlotte De Corte. Despite struggling early and recording bogeys on the first, second, and fifth holes, the Frenchwoman recovered just in time to beat De Corte 3-2 and advance to the championship round against Storm. After the senior took an early lead in the final match, she refused to give Storm any opening to recover and wrapped up the three-hour match with a birdie at the 15th hole.
“This victory definitely helps boost my confidence in the game and level in which I am capable of playing,” Boutier wrote. “I am definitely going to play more tournaments over the summer rather than rest."
Despite adding another piece of hardware to her impressive collection, Boutier made it clear that she still has work to do if she hopes to win an NCAA championship in her final year in Durham.
“I am looking to improve my short game for next season," she wrote. "I am definitely going to try to enjoy and have fun in every single tournament round as they will be my last ones in college."
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