Ohio Wins 2003 USGA Women's State Team Championship

Emily Bastel, 23, of Upper Sandusky carded a 1-under-par 72 in the final round to lead Ohio to a four-stroke victory over North Carolina at the USGA Women’s State Team Championship at Wellesley Country Club in Wellesley Hills, Mass. Bastel, who played on the victorious 2002 USA Curtis Cup team, posted four birdies on the second nine after shooting a first-nine 40. Ohio finished with a 54-hole total of 9-over 447, while Georgia placed third at 452. Oregon tied Maryland for fourth at 453.

Ohio became the fifth different winner of this championship, following Pennsylvania, Alabama, Florida and Minnesota.

After the first nine holes in the final round, Ohio was tied with Georgia and Oregon. Bastel’s two teammates – 22-year-old Heather Zielinski of Sylvania (79) and Lynn Thompson, 45, of Cincinnati (80) – could only wait and hope Bastel, a former standout at Michigan State University, would deliver as the squad’s anchor. In the 3-count-2 format, Ohio could throw out Thompson’s score.

“I was praying that (Emily) was playing well, because we hadn’t had the greatest of rounds,” said Zielinski. Bastel did indeed deliver for Ohio, which had not finished higher than 18th in four previous championships.

Windy conditions made scoring difficult on the par-73, 6,047-yard layout. Bastel, who had recently advanced through the first stage of LPGA Tour qualifying as an amateur, was the lone competitor to break par in the final round, and was the lone golfer to better par for the three days of the competition (2-under 217).

North Carolina finished as runner-up in this event for a second time, having also done so in 1997. Shannon Ogg, 26, and 53-year-old Patty Moore, both from Charlotte, each recorded 3-over 76s in the final round and totaled 225 and 227, respectively. Georgia was paced by Laura Coble of Augusta, who shot a final-round 76 and totaled 226, along with high school senior Margaret Shirley of Roswell.