3rd BMW GAP Women’s Championship

Anna Kittelson repeats as Champion

VILLANOVA, Pa. — Neither nerves nor strong, steady winds could derail an Anna Kittelson repeat in the 3^rd BMW GAP Women’s Championship Monday at Overbrook Golf Club (par 70, 5,808 yards). Kittelson, who graduated from the University of Delaware in 2023 and now serves as the Association’s Manager of Adaptive Golf, became the tournament’s first back-to-back winner. She finished at 5-over-par 75, seven shots clear of the field.

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Meghan Adams of Wilmington Country Club and Lauren Bernard of Aronimink Golf Club tied for second at 11 over. Adams, an officer on GAP’s Executive Committee (Secretary), did take the Middle-Amateur Division title. She defeated flight mate Bernard via a match of scorecards.

Playing conditions were extremely difficult with a firm and fast golf course and consistent winds measuring at upward of 25 miles per hour howling all day. It was those conditions and a conversation with boyfriend and caddie Blaise Casselbury on the first tee that put Kittelson in the proper frame of mind.

“Anytime you defend I think it adds a little bit more pressure. I think people expect more things from you and you expect more things from yourself,” said Kittelson, 24, of Glen Mills, Pa., who plays out of GAP Oaks Club. “This wind was miserable. I think the wind lowered expectations, because when it’s like this par automatically goes up. My boyfriend and I were talking on the first tee that par was probably 75 or 76 today.”

The scoring average for the Championship Division was 90.22.

Kittelson made four birdies, matching up red figures on Nos. 4 (par 4, 380 yards) and 5 (par 5, 487 yards) and again on Nos. 12 (par 5, 440 yards) and 13 (par 4, 265 yards). Her first birdie came courtesy of a 40-foot putt.

Though not playing as much tournament golf as she was in her days at UD, Kittelson was able to get her game in some sort of shape over the last week. Building GAP’s Adaptive Golf brand and its No Limit Clinics taking up her employment time.

“That’s the beauty of tournament golf. You have to switch your mindset to ‘Alright, we’re going to take whatever our game is today. And we’re going to play with that and whether it turns out good or it turns out bad, you just have to come with what you got,” said Kittelson.

In the Middle-Amateur Division, Adams stayed present in each shot and credited her caddie Billy Reube for keeping her focused. She hit only two greens but made up-and-downs for par or bogey eight times to keep her round moving forward.

“[Billy] basically tried to keep me in it. He said, ‘It’s OK to make a bogey. Just try to get up-and-down as much as you can.’ He’s like ‘you have a good short game and are a good putter,’” said Adams, 43, of Wilmington, Del. and Wilmington Country Club. “So I really just tried to stay within my self today.”

The USGA tiebreaker for Adams and Bernard was the back nine score. Both players carded 39s. So the next criteria is the last six holes aggregated. Adams finished those in 26 strokes, while Bernard was 28 strokes.

Adams played competitively at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she served as the captain of the women’s golf team her senior year.

She joined the GAP Executive Committee two years ago, and was named the Association’s Secretary in December. Secretary is third highest officer position in the Association.

“I support the organization. [GAP] doesn’t just say things, it actually does things. And when we talked about the Women’s Amateur Championship getting better and better every year and suggestions I had from playing in other women’s events, GAP listened,” said Adams. “I have to give the organization credit. We had a great field this year and the golf courses we are playing keep getting better and better.”

The highlight of her round came on No. 14 (par 4, 320 yards). She hit a 9-rion from 105 yards to two feet for a birdie.

In the Senior Division, Suzi Spotleson of RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve posted 75 in the third group out and waited to see if it would be good enough. She won by five shots.

Spotleson is a decorated player. She has competed in 21 USGA Championships (8 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateurs; 6 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateurs; 5 State Teams (for Ohio); 1 U.S. Senior Women’s Open and 1 U.S. Women’s Amateur).

She won her first LNGA Senior Amateur Championship last October in Fort Worth, Texas.

That Championship mettle came through on her inward nine. Spotleson finished the back nine in even par.

“I beared down on the back and locked my swing in a little bit,” said Spotleson, 57, of Canton, Ohio. “I got a couple of birdies on the back. I was able to hold steady after a lousy front nine.”

GAP
Celebrating Amateur Golf since 1897, GAP, also known as the Golf Association of Philadelphia, is the oldest regional or state golf association in the United States. It serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. The Association’s 345 Member Clubs and 110,000 individual members are spread across the Eastern half of Pennsylvania and parts of Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey. The GAP’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.