Racine’s Norah Roberts gets hot, stays hot in rallying past Kenosha’s Kylie Walker to claim Sherri Steinhauer title in one-hole playoff | WPGA Juniors

To say Kylie Walker felt comfortable with her position making the turn Tuesday at Pleasant View Golf Club in Middleton, ahead by three strokes during the final round of the Sherri Steinhauer Girls Invitational, would be putting it mildly.

The Kenosha golfer, a rising junior at Westosha Central High School in Paddock Lake, had just played the front nine in even-par and, after a birdie at No. 10, was now ahead by four shots and the only golfer of the 92 in the field under par 28 holes into the 36-hole event.

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Sherri ’22 Kylie Walker

Kylie Walker of Kenosha hits out of a bunker on the 12th hole at Pleasant View on Tuesday. Walker finished second at the Sherri Steinhauer Girls Championship, losing in a playoff to Norah Roberts.

Sherri ’22 Norah Roberts

Norah Roberts studies a putt on Tuesday during the final round of the Sherri Steinhauer Girls Championship played at Pleasant View Golf Course. Roberts, from Racine, took home the overall tile defeating Kylie Walker in a playoff.

Sherri ’22 Hannah Dunk

Hannah Dunk of Janesville hits from the 10th fairway en route to a tie for third place in the high school division at the Sherri Steinhauer Girls Championship on Tuesday.

Sherri ’22 Jolie Guyette

Jolie Guyette of De Pere putts during the second round of the Sherri Steinhauer Girls Championship on Tuesday at Pleasant View Golf Course. Guyette finished third in the college division.

Sherri ’22 Payton Haugen

Payton Haugen hits a drive on the 10th tee at Pleasant View on Tuesday during the final round of the Sherri Steinhauer Girls Championship. Haugen, from Brookfield, finished in a tie for third. She did win the girls 14-15 age category.

Sherri ’22 Grace Welch

Madison’s Grace Welch watches her shot on Tuesday during the final round of the Sherri Steinhauer Girls Championship. Welch finished second in the college division.

Sherri ’22 Caylie Kotlowski

Caylie Kotlowski of Stoughton finished first in the college division of the Sherri Steinhauer Girls Championship on Tuesday.

Sherri ’22 Adalyn Johnson

Adalyn Johnson of Green Bay watches her putt during Tuesday’s final round. Johnson finished in a four-way tie for eighth place overall.

Sherri ’22 Grace Durkin

Green Bay’s Grace Durkin tied for sixth at the Sherri Steinhauer Girls Championship.

Sherri ’22 Izzi Stricker

Izzi Stricker hits from the 10th fairway on Tuesday. Stricker, from Madison, finished fifth.

Sherri ’22 Jenna Anderson

Jenna Anderson of Dousman finished the Sherri Steinhauer in a tie with four other golfers for eighth place.

Sherri ’22 Katelyn Walker

Kenosha’s Katelyn Walker hits a drive on Tuesday. She finished tied for sixth.

Sherri ’22 McKenna Nelson

Beaver Dam’s McKenna Nelson hits a drive on the 10th hole on Tuesday. Nelson finished the championship in a tie for eighth place. She did finish first in girls aged 13 and under.

Sherri ’22 Vivian Cressman

Vivian Cressman of MIddleton finished the championship in a four-way tie for eighth place.

Sherri ’22 Kylie Walker

Kylie Walker of Kenosha hits out of a bunker on the 12th hole at Pleasant View on Tuesday. Walker finished second at the Sherri Steinhauer Girls Championship, losing in a playoff to Norah Roberts.

Sherri ’22 Norah Roberts

Norah Roberts studies a putt on Tuesday during the final round of the Sherri Steinhauer Girls Championship played at Pleasant View Golf Course. Roberts, from Racine, took home the overall tile defeating Kylie Walker in a playoff.

Sherri ’22 Hannah Dunk

Hannah Dunk of Janesville hits from the 10th fairway en route to a tie for third place in the high school division at the Sherri Steinhauer Girls Championship on Tuesday.

Sherri ’22 Jolie Guyette

Jolie Guyette of De Pere putts during the second round of the Sherri Steinhauer Girls Championship on Tuesday at Pleasant View Golf Course. Guyette finished third in the college division.

Sherri ’22 Payton Haugen

Payton Haugen hits a drive on the 10th tee at Pleasant View on Tuesday during the final round of the Sherri Steinhauer Girls Championship. Haugen, from Brookfield, finished in a tie for third. She did win the girls 14-15 age category.

Sherri ’22 Grace Welch

Madison’s Grace Welch watches her shot on Tuesday during the final round of the Sherri Steinhauer Girls Championship. Welch finished second in the college division.

Sherri ’22 Caylie Kotlowski

Caylie Kotlowski of Stoughton finished first in the college division of the Sherri Steinhauer Girls Championship on Tuesday.

Sherri ’22 Adalyn Johnson

Adalyn Johnson of Green Bay watches her putt during Tuesday’s final round. Johnson finished in a four-way tie for eighth place overall.

Sherri ’22 Grace Durkin

Green Bay’s Grace Durkin tied for sixth at the Sherri Steinhauer Girls Championship.

Sherri ’22 Izzi Stricker

Izzi Stricker hits from the 10th fairway on Tuesday. Stricker, from Madison, finished fifth.

Sherri ’22 Jenna Anderson

Jenna Anderson of Dousman finished the Sherri Steinhauer in a tie with four other golfers for eighth place.

Sherri ’22 Katelyn Walker

Kenosha’s Katelyn Walker hits a drive on Tuesday. She finished tied for sixth.

Sherri ’22 McKenna Nelson

Beaver Dam’s McKenna Nelson hits a drive on the 10th hole on Tuesday. Nelson finished the championship in a tie for eighth place. She did finish first in girls aged 13 and under.

Sherri ’22 Vivian Cressman

Vivian Cressman of MIddleton finished the championship in a four-way tie for eighth place.

Here are the 2022 Wisconsin golf tournament winners so far this year

“I made a long downhill putt to save par on No. 9 (after pulling her drive left in the penalty area),” Walker wrote in a text message to Wisconsin.Golf. “My confidence with my putting was high and I felt great making the turn.”

In a harbinger of things to come, however, Walker’s birdie at No. 10 was matched moments later by Norah Roberts, the only golfer of the four who were three back at the turn to still be there when she reached the 11th tee. And the Racine golfer, a rising senior at Union Grove High School and a North Dakota State commit, was only getting started.

Roberts made four more birdies on the back nine, the last on the par-5 18th hole where she reached the green in two after having made her lone bogey down the stretch on the par-3 17th. She two-putted for birdie to finish off a 4-under 68 to force a playoff with Walker, who had just birdied No. 18 herself to finish off a 1-under 71. Then she replicated the feat minutes later on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to take the title after the two golfers had finished four strokes clear of the field at 1-under 143.

“This victory definitely adds something to my summer accomplishments,” Roberts wrote in a text to Wisconsin.Golf after winning her second junior golf major in as many weeks following her victory over Green Bay’s Grace Durkin in the finals of the Wisconsin Junior Girls Championship last week at Hartford GC. “I had been playing well, but just hadn’t had any big victories, until the (Wisconsin Junior Girls) match play. It was nice to win these tournaments at this point in the season, since it helps give me confidence going into the high school season.”

From left, Kenosha’s Kylie Walker, former LPGA Tour golfer Sherri Steinhauer, Racine’s Norah Roberts and Milton’s Hannah Dunk posed with the Madison native after whom the Sherri Steinhauer is named.

Wisconsin PGA photo

Walker, the qualifying medalist at last week’s Wisconsin Junior Girls and the leader by two strokes here after an opening 72 Monday at Blackhawk Country Club, looked poised to ride renewed confidence of her own to her first victory of the summer.

“I’ve been in the lead position before and have learned not to change anything about my game or my mindset,” wrote Walker, who played in the lead group off No. 1 in the shotgun start event with twin sister Katelyn, Milton’s Hannah Dunk and Madison’s Izzi Stricker. “Basically, keep it the same as Day 1 and just play my own game — ‘Just be me.’ I felt pretty comfortable coming into Day 2 with that mindset and knew that Pleasant View would play easier than Blackhawk.”

To her credit, Walker made herself a tough golfer to catch.

After a birdie-bogey-birdie start, she made five pars and one bogey to match par 36 on the front nine. Walker went birdie-bogey to open the back nine and made six straight pars before her birdie on No. 18 made her the clubhouse leader as Roberts played No. 18 behind her.

“I really had no idea what Norah was doing behind me, but she never fails to surprise me,” Walker wrote. “She had a great round today!”

Roberts wrote that her rally on the back nine was the product of putting her mind to it.

“Going into the back, I was even and I knew I needed to do something (special) … if I wanted a chance to move up the leaderboard,” Roberts wrote. “If you would have told me on the 10th tee that I was going to shoot 32, I probably would have said that’s possible seeing that there are three reachable par-5s on the back and I knew I was putting better (Tuesday). But I knew that I would have to play solid on all the other holes as well.”

Three of her birdies came on par-5s (Nos. 10, 12 and 18). She made an 8-footer for birdie on the par-4 13th hole and chipped in for birdie on the par-4 16th.

“This win just gives me confidence going forward that I can shoot a good score and come from behind to win an event,” wrote Roberts, who added that it was “really cool” to meet Steinhauer for the first time after the former LPGA Tour golfer from Madison wasn’t able to make what has otherwise been an annual appearance at the event in 2021. “I think this is one of the coolest events that we get to play in during the summer for that reason.”

Indeed, the connection with Steinhauer, the Wisconsin State Golf Hall of Famer who shares her personal experiences in the game during the awards ceremony, is just one link between generations that this event promotes.

The other has developed with the addition of a college division each of the last two years. Stoughton’s Caylie Kotlowski out-dueled fellow UW-Green Bay golfer Grace Welch of Madison, shooting a second straight 78 to edge Welch (77) by one stroke with a 12-over 156 total playing a course that played 5,900 yards (700 yards longer than the high school/middle school division).

“I feel completely honored to have won the college division title for this event,” Kotlowski wrote. “I’ve played in this tournament at the junior level quite a few times, now the college level, and I am so happy to have won. I love playing in local tournaments and seeing everyone from WPGA Junior Foundation, too. It was such a fun couple of days.”

ROUND 1: Blackhawk CC-Madison | ROUND 2: Pleasant View GC-Middleton

College division

HS/MS division

 

(p) denotes won playoff

SHERRI STEINHAUER INVITATIONAL: Past champions, runners-up

Year	Champion	Score	Runner-up	Score	Site
2022	Norah Roberts, Racine (HS/MS) Caylie Kotlowski, Stoughton (College)	75-68 (143) 78-78 (156)	Kylie Walker, Kenosha (HS/MS) Grace Welch, Madison (College)	72-71 (143) 80-77 (157)	Blackhawk CC (1) Pleasant View GC (2)
2021	Ellie Frisch, Middleton (HS/MS) Courtney Matschke, Waterford (College)	74-72 (146) 82-75 (157)	Jenna Anderson, Dousman (HS) Rachel Kauflin, Wauwatosa (College)	78-73 (151) 82-76 (158)	Blackhawk CC (1) Pleasant View GC (2)
2020	Jenna Anderson, Dousman	73-69 (142)	Skye Two Hawks Skenandore, De Pere, Grace Suter, Oconomowoc	72-77 (149) 75-74 (149)	Blackhawk CC (1) Pleasant View GC (2)
2019	Rachel Kauflin, Wauwatosa	74-70 (144)	Mallory Swartz, Franklin	73-76 (149)	Blackhawk CC (1) Pleasant View GC (2)
2018	Rachel Kauflin, Wauwatosa	74-74 (148)	Lexi Meade, Eau Claire	81-73 (154)	Blackhawk CC (1) Pleasant View GC (2)
2017	Alexis Thomas, Middleton	78-73 (151)	Taitum Beck, Waterford	76-77 (153)	Blackhawk CC (1) Pleasant View GC (2)
2016	Not held	due to	Women’s Western	Junior Girls
2015	Loren Skibba, Middleton	76-70 (146)	Bailey Smith, Verona	78-78 (156)	Blackhawk CC
2014	Loren Skibba, Middleton	75-74 (149)	Abby Chase, Beaver Dam	76-75 (151)	Blackhawk CC
2013	Rebecca Klongland, Stoughton	74	Loren Skibba, Middleton	81	Nakoma GC
2012	Jessica Reinecke, Verona	72	Ashley Madden, Waunakee	76	Bishops Bay CC