SPRINGFIELD — Carrie Frey’s first tee shot at her first City Am went about 20 feet. She scored a double-bogey six on her first hole.
That was on Saturday, June 27, and Frey admitted she had “a little bit of nerves.” On Sunday, Frey said the first hole was her best — a solid up-and-down par. That sent her on to a strong 39 on the front nine at Snyder Park Golf Course, and into the lead in the 2009 National Trail Parks and Recreation Springfield Women’s City Amateur Golf Tournament.
“I just figured that (Sunday) was going to be a much better day than (Saturday),” she said.
Much better, indeed. Playing in the final group, Frey won the 28th annual City Am with a two-day 167, besting Donna Warfield by one stroke, Laaci Farris by two and defending champion and first-round leader Debbie Marshall by three.
Frey, 19, is from Cincinnati. She’s a sophomore at Wittenberg University, and taking summer classes right now. Her stroke average on the women’s golf team was 91.9.
She won the City Am with two steady rounds. She didn’t score a birdie on Sunday, but did have nine pars, including five in the first seven holes. The strong front nine forced her group mates to play catch-up.
“I really wasn’t expecting to win it,” Frey said. “I was just going out there and go play my own game and hope for the best. ... It seemed like everything was working, especially on the front nine.”
Frey’s 83 on Sunday was bested over 18 holes only by Debbie Marshall’s 82 in the first round. Marshall scored an 88 on Sunday.
“I had a lot of putts, trying to recover,” Marshall said.
Warfield, the 2005 champ, shot an 84 on Sunday. She birdied No. 9 and No. 13, but put her ball in the hazard on the final hole and had two putts.
Shawnee High School graduate Farris had a back-nine score of 41 for a late charge, but still couldn’t catch Frey.
“I actually didn’t know where Donna was, and she was right behind me the whole time,” Frey said. “The one I was worried about was Laaci, because I was keeping her score and it seemed liked we would go par-par and bogey-bogey. I was more concerned about her.”
