Will there be a fourth showdown for all the marbles in the Executive Women’s Division between Betsy Aldrich and Jodi (Krafka) Sullivan?
They are the number one and two seeded players and it’s possible because they both won their quarterfinal matches Friday. But there’s something standing in the way: Joan Frie and Molly Baker.
They both won yesterday and have been playing some very good golf. Baker is the third-seed and Frie is the 13th seed.
Starting at 7:10 a.m. this morning, Saturday, Aldrich will go up against Frie, and Sullivan will square off against Baker, starting from the No. 1 tee.
The winners will advance to the final that’s scheduled to start at 12:45 p.m., also from No. 1.
ADVERTISEMENT
In case, you’re curious, here’s how the Aldrich-Sullivan final matches have played out over the years: 2017 – Aldrich won, 2-up; 2018 – Sullivan won, 1-up; 2019 – Aldrich won, 3-2.
Here’s a look at Friday’s quarterfinals:
Aldrich def. Dowd, 7-6
A five-hole explosion of wins to end the front nine carried Aldrich to a quick win over Liz Dowd.
Aldrich, the division’s champion in 2007, 2017, 2019 and 2020, sprinted out to a two-hole lead with pars on Nos. 1 and 2. Both golfers bogeyed No. 3 and parred No. 4 to keep Aldrich’s lead intact.
That’s when Aldrich caught fire. She won the next five holes with solid pars to take a soda-pop score at the turn, 7-up. Dowd could only match Aldrich’s pars on Nos. 10, 11 and 12, which ended the match.
Frie def. Boerboom, 4-3
Frie was on fire in the early going, winning the first five holes over Colleen Boerboom with two pars, two bogeys and another par. After both golfers bogeyed the 6th hole, Boerboom made a match of it with a par win on No. 7 and a birdie on No. 9, thanks to a deadly accurate long putt that drew big applause from the gallery and a fist bump from Frie.
Boerboom drew to within two with another birdie on No. 10 but Frie struck back with a par win on No. 11 to go back to 3-up. After they both parred the long 12th hole, Frie made birdie on No. 13 to go 4-up. Both golfers settled for bogeys on No. 14 and pars on 15, which gave Frie a 4-3 victory.
Sullivan def. O’Donnell, 2-1
In the division’s closest match of the day, Sullivan built a big lead early. She took the first four holes with three straight pars and a bogey.
ADVERTISEMENT
But O’Donnell didn’t collapse. She mounted a big rally, winning the next four holes with two birdies and two pars to tie the match. Sullivan salvaged a par win on No. 9 to go 1-up at the turn.
After nine holes that contained no ties, the match suddenly settled down. They halved Nos. 10 (par), 11 (bogey), 12 (par) and 13 (par), which kept Sullivan’s slim lead intact. O'Donnell knotted the match with a par win on No. 14 but Sullivan immediately answered with a par win on the 15th hole to go 1-up again.
They both settled for par on No. 16 and then Sullivan put the match away with a clutch par win on the 17th hole to seal a 2-1 victory.
Baker def. Cavers, 5-4
Baker got things cooking early against Jen Cavers. She won the first three holes with par, matched Cavers’ par on No. 4, and then reeled off three straight wins, again with pars, to go 6-up. Cavers’ bogey won the 9th hole but she trailed by five at the turn.
After swapping pars on Nos. 10 and 11, Cavers parred No. 13 to pull within four but Baker ended the match by winning No. 14 with par, preserving a 5-4 win.
