Hanley Long learned the value of perseverance in the final round of the Tennessee Women's Amateur Championship on Thursday at Black Creek Club.
The Clarksville native and recent Middle Tennessee State graduate sank a 14-foot par putt on the final hole to narrowly escape two younger players and win the state title in her final event as an amateur.
Long finished with a 1-under-par 71 and a 54-hole score of 211, merely a stroke better than Winchester's Malia Stovall and 14-year-old Sophie Linder of Carthage. All three shot 71s over the final 18 holes.
Long's next mission is to attempt to qualify for the LPGA Tour. She will begin that process this week at Mission Hills in California.
"I've always loved playing in TGA events, so winning this means a great deal to me," Long said after accepting the winner's trophy.
"The putt at 18 was a huge putt. I hadn't had a lot of putts fall this week."
She did have a few Thursday. The 14-footer wasn't even the longest. She drained a 25-foot birdie putt on the short par-4 15th and made birdie on the par-5 fourth by two-putting from 45 feet, leaving the eagle attempt eight feet short.
Long's only other birdie came via a two-putt on the other par 5 on the front, No. 6.
Long, Linder and Stovall stayed within a shadow of each other most of the last 18 holes.
Stovall, a freshman on the University of Tennessee team, led or shared the lead for much of the front. Birdies on both of the par 5s on the front enabled her to reach 5 under through seven holes, but she sustained bogeys at Nos. 8, 11 and 12 to drop to 2 under for the tournament.
However, she made back-to-back birdies on 14 and 15 to reach 4 under. She had a chance to create a playoff or perhaps even win but missed birdie putts of 12, 12 and five feet on the last three holes.
"I gave myself a chance but couldn't get them to fall," she said.
Linder, who was attempting to become the youngest State Amateur winner in the 87-year history of the event, forged her way into a tie when she birdied the par-5 14th to get to 5 under. But she quickly gave the shot back with a bogey at 15.
Despite having a reputation of only winning matters, the prodigy relished tying for runner-up with Stovall.
"Winning isn't everything as far as this is concerned," Linder said. "I felt good about how I played."
The three players in the final group were the only ones to finish under par for the tournament, but Aubree Jones of Covington had the best score of the day and the tournament with a 6-under 66. She and Kayley Marschke tied for fourth with 217s.
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga player Maddy McDanel and Clarksville's McKinley Cunningham tied for sixth with 219s. Manchester's Savannah Quick shared eighth at 220, and Cleveland's Rheagan Hall, McDanel's UTC teammate, tied for 11th at 222.
Contact Sam Woolwine at sports@timesfreepress.com.