Felderman fifth at Iowa Women's Amateur Championship

IOWA CITY, Iowa - For the first time in her career, Breanna Felderman played in the 99th Women's Amateur Championship held at Finkbine Golf Course with play finishing up on Tuesday afternoon. In a competitive field of some of the best golfers in the state, Felderman (80-71-78=229) excelled tying for fifth place. 

Felderman, who just concluded a stellar junior campaign at Mount Mercy this past May, never finished below tenth in any tournament while racking up five, top-five finishes including medalist and runner-up finishes. She was also named to the all-Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament team after earning two Heart Golfer of the Week honors.

In the three-day tournament, she started of in the middle of the pack after three birdies, carding an 80 through the first 18. It was in round two that Felderman elevated her game to the next level. On hole 18, a par three, she hit a hybrid from 170 yards out setting herself up for the birdie putt. She followed that up with back-to-back birdies. Felderman finished round two with the low score of the tournament at 71 (-1 under par) and tied for sixth place going into the final round. 

She was in the penultimate  group for the last 18 holes. Felderman picked up where she left off on day two with a birdie on the first hole to catapult to the top of the leaderboard. Another birdie on hole eight kept her in first place making the turn for the back nine. After a tough few holes, Felderman finished the round with a 78 to tie for fifth place. 

When asked to reflect on the experience, Felderman expressed, "It was fun to see a bunch of the girls I used to play golf with or against during high school and summer tournaments. There were a lot of great golfers in the field and my goal was to finish top 18. To finish where I did really shocked me. Going into the tournament the game plan was to limit mistakes and stay below the hole. We executed that pretty well and just ended up out of position a few times towards the end that hurt my score. It was a fun tournament and I look forward to playing each year".

Kaitlyn Hanna (77-74-71=222) from the University of Iowa took home the individual crown. Her and Felderman were the only two with a round under par in the entire field of 53 participants. Not only did she achieve that feat, but Felderman led the field with 11 birdies over the tournament - Hanna finished with nine. 

"It's always rewarding as a coach to see a player put in the work and see results. Breanna has put in unparalleled amounts of work on her game this past year and being able to caddy for her this past week and have an up close look as she put her game up against the best in the state was an honor. This is a big step for her game and is going to set her up for a great senior season at MMU," stated Head Coach Chris Shank. 

The Mount Mercy women's golf team opens up their fall season with the Statesmen Invitational on Monday, August 28th with a 9:00 am shotgun start.