Lugoff-Elgin’s Kellli Murphy qualifies for U.S. Women’s Amateur | The State

Kelli Murphy, a rising senior at Lugoff-Elgin High, joined a pair of incoming college freshman — Ashlan Ramsey (Milledgeville, Ga./Clemson) and Katelyn Dambaugh (Goose Creek/USC) — in highlighting sectional qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Kiawah Island’s Cougar Point course.

Ramsey, who has won three times this summer, earned the qualifying medal with a 4-under 68, two strokes better than Murphy and three ahead of Dambaugh and Katie Petrino, a member of the University of Louisville golf team.

Overall, 10 players advanced from Kiawah to the national championship, which will be played Aug. 5-10 at the Country Club of Charleston.

“I can’t wait to see how it feels to play with the best of the best on a course I’ve won on a few times,” said Murphy, who won the CGA’s Carolinas Junior Girls title a week ago.

Also advancing from the Cougar Point qualifying: Haley Zagoria, Atlanta, 72; Jessica Vasilic, Anaheim, Calif., 73; Yu Liu, China, 73; Lily Bartell, Hilton Head Island, 73; Anne Marie Covar, Edgefield, 73, and Dawn Woodard, Greer, 73.

Mariana Sims, Austin, Texas, and Katie Rose Higgins, Charleston, earned alternate berths.

Players Amateur

Eighty-four golfers from around the world will compete in the Players Amateur this week at Berkeley Hall Golf Club in Bluffton. The champion earns an exemption into the 2014 RBC Heritage.

Bobby Wyatt, a rising senior at Alabama who finished second in the Players a year ago, will be among the favorites in the stellar field that includes USC standout Matt NeSmith, and Australian stars Nathan Holman and Oliver Gross.

Todd White, an instructor at Hilton Head High who finished fifth in the recent Northeast Amateur, hopes to use a strong performance to bolster his chances to make the U.S. Walker Cup team.

The 72-hole competition is Thursday-Sunday. Admission is free.

Chip shots

Kelsey Bademaev (Blythewood), Lauren Stephenson (Lexington) and Eden Howard (Lamar) earned berths in the U.S. Junior Girls championship in qualifying at the Country Club of North Carolina in Pinehurst. The national event is July 22-27 in Fort Wayne, Ind. ...

In qualifying for the South Carolina Amateur, Ben Karns (Columbia) and Brian Amick (Sumter) led the field at Oak Hills Golf Club, and Kamito Hirai (Summerville) led the way at Smithfields Country Club in Easley. The tourney will be played Aug. 1-4 at the Members Club’s Woodcreek Course. ...

Winners in the Golfweek Amateur Tour tourney at Fort Jackson Golf Club’s Wildcat Course: Josh Rogers (championship flight), Paul Sanderson (A flight), Lawrence Whiteside (B flight), Bobby Hagen (C flight) and Dwight Williams (D flight). Players are placed in flights according to handicaps. ...

Nick Russell (Hilton Head Island) will be one of 14 players on the International Junior Golf Team’s U.S. squad for competition against teams from Canada and Scotland at St. Andrews July 31-Aug, 2. ...

The Carolinas Junior PGA, rained out last weekend, will be played over 18 holes July 20 at the Hackler Course in Conway. Winners in the boys’ and girls’ divisions qualify for the Junior PGA Championship July 30-Aug. 2 in Potomac Falls, Va.