Tess Blair

by Kurt Kragthorpe

The Blair Sisters' style of golf works equally well in stroke play. Yet there's something about the way their consistent ball-striking and ability to make one par after another wears down opponents in match play, and that was illustrated by the way Bingham High School senior Tess Blair dominated the 112th Women's State Amateur.

Blair made a lot of routine pars on her way to the title. Even so, one spectacular par turned the Aug. 2 final match permanently in her favor at Bonneville Golf Course. Blair's chip-in after a taking penalty stroke on the par-3 No. 9 started her run of winning the last five holes, giving her a 6-and-5 victory over Jessica Sloot.
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Blair's win came during a big summer for teenagers in UGA championships. Blair, 17, is the youngest winner of the Women's Amateur since Terry Norman Hansen (also 17, but about three weeks younger) claimed her first title in 1980.

The Women's Am outcome followed the 2014 triumph of Blair's sister, Sirene, then a San Diego State golfer and now a professional. Tess Blair, who's committed to Sacramento State, was the qualifying medalist and never had to play beyond the 16th hole in any of her four matches.