Manns birdied four of the last five holes Saturday at Eagle Hill Golf and Athletic Club to beat the defending champ 1 UP.
By: Chris Werner
USGA P.J. Boatwright Jr. Intern
August 29, 2023
Susanna Manns of Russellville claimed her first ASGA Major Saturday at Eagle Hill Golf and Athletic Club when she defeated defending champion Anna Kate Nichols 1 UP in the Junior Match Play Championship finals.
The final match — a rematch of one of last year’s semifinal matches — marked the end of the 2023 girls’ event that was supposed to conclude on July 21 but was suspended due to rain.
Nichols defeated Manns 6&4 last season on her way to a championship victory, but things played out differently this time around.
After halving Eagle Hill’s first hole, the two finalists traded hole wins on 2, 3, 4, and 5. Two pars on the par-3 sixth kept the match all square.
Manns and Nichols then traded holes 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 to reach the par-4 13th all square.
Nichols won the 13th, Manns won the 14th and 15th with birdies, Nichols won the 16th, Manns won the 17th with another birdie, and Manns tapped in for yet another birdie on the 18th to halve the final hole with Nichols and capture her biggest title to date.
“I played pretty good today,” Manns said after the trophy ceremony. “I think we only tied like three holes, so it was really up-and-down. I just kept trying to … staying in the present and not think about it too much. And I made some really good putts. It felt really good.”
Manns, who had never been to a match-play final, said she felt like the underdog against the 2022 champion who had been to the finals in each of the previous three years.
“I know she's really good,” Manns said of Nichols. “I've played with her a lot, and I knew that I was definitely the underdog coming into today. And I was lucky I made a lot of putts today and she played really well. And she definitely has a lot of experience in this position. So it felt good to make some putts.”
Manns and Nichols each had family support and a friend on the bag for Saturday’s championship match.
Madison Holmes, a junior on the Central Arkansas golf team and this year’s Arkansas Amateur Champion caddied for Nichols, and Claire Orcutt, a graduate student at Arkansas Tech caddied for Manns.
Each player’s parents watched the match and Manns’ sister was in attendance as well.
“It meant a lot,” Manns said of her spectator support. “All my family came out and Claire was a really great caddy. She kept me pretty light and we just talked about a lot of stuff. And I'm really thankful for everyone that came out.”
Manns credited her practice and focus on improving for her largest trophy yet.
“I've probably never like won a tournament this big,” Manns said. “It's kind of a lot of my hard work paying off and just focusing on the right things.”
