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| SUMMIT PHOTO BY BOB FENSKE
Kendra Hanson bounced back from a disappointing college season to win the Iowa Women’s Amateur.
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Hanson rises from depths to win Iowa Am
Former Forest City High star wins coveted title
By Bob Fenske
Of The Summit
FOREST CITY - As Kendra Hanson made her way to the 18th green on a Burlington golf course last week, redemption tagged along.
The former Forest City High School superstar who had endured the worst golf season of her life was about to become the Iowa Women's Golf Association State Amateur champion.
“I didn't really know if I had won it, but I was pretty sure,” Hanson said. “In a way, it didn't matter. It just felt so good to play so well again - to play the game of golf the way I know I can.”
Hanson shot a three-day 1-over-par 217 to beat Ankeny's Abbi Sunner by three shots at Spirit Hollow Golf Course. After opening with a 72 last Monday, Hanson shot a 73 on Tuesday and then closed with another 72 on Wednesday. The victory offered proof that the real Kendra Hanson was alive and well after a disappointing junior season at Iowa State University.
It was, in short, a feel-good story, one that even Hanson's vanquished opponent appreciated.
“Kendra deserves this,” Sunner told the Burlington Hawk Eye after the tournament. “She struck the ball well today. This is well deserved. I am happy for her.”
Hanson's title came a little more than three months after Hanson's golf career had seemingly reached the floor of a bottomless pit. In April, she finished last at the Big 12 Championships - shooting a 47-over-par 263.
“It was hard because I've always had success - be it in golf or basketball - and then I had just reached rock bottom,” Hanson said. “My confidence was shot, and that probably doesn't even come close to describing how I felt.”
Hanson, a two-time state champion at Forest City, had a plan that had nothing to do with the golf course. She took a couple of weeks off.
“It's the best thing I think I did,” she said. “I just didn't play, kind of got my head together and then came back and worked as hard as I've probably ever worked.”
Last week, the plan bore fruit in Burlington.
Hanson took the lead on the second day of the tournament and then started the final round birdie-birdie-par-birdie to seize control of the event.
“I really wanted to get off to a good start Wednesday,” Hanson said, “but I didn't press either. I just hit some really good golf shots, something I didn't do all that much this spring.”
Still, the road to victory wasn't smooth at times. At 17, Hanson carded a double bogey while Sunner parred the hole to move within two shots of the lead.
“I hit a God awful tee shot on 17, and I mean it was terrible,” Hanson said with a laugh, “but I still felt pretty good. I got up and down for a double. It could have been a lot worse, but if you can feel good with a double, I did because it didn't turn into a total disaster.”
On 18, Hanson's booming tee shot landed on the edge of the rough on a hole where trouble seems to be everywhere because of a creek that runs along the right side of the hole and cuts in front of the green.
Still, she wasn't about to play it safe. “I told my dad (Kent), I didn't come here to lay up.” She took out a 7-wood, safely made it over the green, although she landed in a bunker. But a perfect pitch and a two-putt was more than enough to give her one of the best titles of her storied career.
“It certainly ranks right up there,” she said. “It means so much more because of where I've come from. There were times I was wondering, ‘Is this ever going to turn around?' But my friends, my family, my coaches believed in me and that helped a lot.”
Story created Jul 31, 2007 - 12:11:41 CDT.
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