Forest Lake Times

Posted: 8/2/06

Two huge wins for Godwin -
Tanners Brook golfer has remarkable week


Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor

The four-day winning streak that Kelly Godwin just enjoyed isnít supposed to happen. And if it does occur it comes with the name Disney attached, and a soundtrack that tells you when the good parts are coming.

But Godwin of Tanners Brook Golf Club really did pull it off - a week in which she won the Minnesota State Junior Girls Championship, and the Minnesota PGA Playersí Tour Girls Match Play.

This accomplishment has an added flair of impossibility once you learn that Godwin was nine strokes behind the leader after the first day of the state tournament. That first round on Monday, July 24, was filled with too many putts, and a variety of shots that didnít land where they were supposed to.

After turning in a score of 81, Godwin was merely hoping to work her way into a top five finish. Maybe a round of 76 on the second day would be an achievable goal on the difficult course at Izatyís Resort.

ìI thought everyone would play a lot better the second day,î Godwin said, ìbut everybody played worse.î

Cue the music.

Godwin shot a 70 while Gretchen Huhnerkoch, the leader after day one, disappeared with an 87. No one was even within five strokes of Godwin on the second round. In fact, her two-under-par on Tuesday was the only under-par round of the tournament.

ìI was just on a roll,î she said. ìMy chipping and putting was fabulous. Everything was just ëoní the second day.î

When it was all over, Godwin had surpassed Huhnerkoch, and 10 other players (including the defending Minnesota State High School League champion, Samantha Sommers), to win the title.

MATCH PLAY WIN

But wait, thereís more.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Godwin was in the Match Play tournament at Dacotah Ridge Golf Club, and she won that, too.

She defeated the aforementioned Sommers in a sudden death playoff, and also held off the talented Laura Taylor of Woodbury in the championship match 3 & 1.

To summarize, this was the biggest week of the summer and Godwin won both tournaments.

Her win at Izatyís gives her a spot in the womenís amateur tournament later this month, but Godwin has other obligations.

She will be starting her first year of college at Concordia University in St. Paul, where she earned both athletic and academic scholarships.

Roll credits.


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