Cheshire's Natasha Podmore

scores first USA victory

Natasha Podmore, 21-year-old junior (third year) student at San Francisco University, has chalked up her first victory on the United States women's college golf circuit.

Six-footer (6ft 1in, actually) Natasha, pictured left, three times Cheshire women's county champion, had rounds of 71, 72 and 75 for a two-over-par total of 218 to win the Oregon Duck Invitational by two shots at Shadow Hills County Club, Junction City, Oregon.

She had finished seventh in the Kent Youel Invitational earlier this 2008-2009 college season but this was the first time she had produced a sustained performance of quality to beat a field of 69 players.

It was the first win by a San Francisco female student since Canadian-born Jessica Potter won the same event three years ago.

Hannah Lovelock (Missouri University), a freshman student from Surrey, tied for 15th place on 229 with ever improving scores of 81, 76 and 72 for 229.
With San Francisco filling the first two places in the individual field - Danielle Cvitann was second - not surprising that San Francisco won the team event with a total of 887, 15 shots ahead of runners-up Oregon with Oregon State and Missouri tied for third place on 910 in a field of 12 teams.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS

Par 216 (3 x 72) 5954yd

Individuals

218 Natasha Podmore (San Francisco) 71 72 75.

220 Danielle Cvitann (San Francisco) 72 75 73.

Selected scores:

229 Hannah Lovelock (Missouri) 81 76 72.

Field of 69 players.

Teams

887 San Francisco.

902 Oregon.

910 Oregon State, Missouri.

Field of 12 teams.