MITCHELL, S.D. -- Just over a month after finishing 15th at the NAIA National Championships, soon-to-be senior Dakota Wesleyan University women's golfer Lauren Fitts added another tremendous accomplishment to her long list of accolades.
Fitts captured the 42nd Annual SDGA Women's Match Play Championships, with a 1-Up victory over South Dakota State University's Hallie Getz Sunday at Lakeview Golf Course in Mitchell, S.D. The win was the first for Fitts in the event and the second SDGA title of her career. She won the SDGA two-woman tournament with her sister Morgan Fitts when she was 14. Morgan won the 2013 Women's Match Play Championships.
Fitts set herself up for a strong weekend with her qualifying round on Thursday. She started strong, getting as low as 5-under par in the round. The day also saw Fitts' first career hole-in-one, when she sank an eagle on the 117-yard-par-3 No. 8 hole. She finished the qualifying round with a 70 and earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament.
"It a big deal to win this tournament, especially with the field that was there," Fitts said. "There were a lot of great college players. I felt like I played really strong even after the hole in one and knew I had a really good chance at doing well."
The weekend wasn't easy for Fitts, with three hard-fought matches. After a first-round bye on Friday, she opened the tournament with a 1-Up victory over No. 8 seeded Mae Meierhenry to move into the semifinals of the championship bracket for the first time in her career at the event. Fitts said she has played this event every year since she was 14, with the exception of 2014.
Her last match on Saturday saw Fitts square off with SDSU's Morgan Mingo, the No. 5 seed in the event. After trailing the entire match, Fitts rallied back to push Mingo to an extra hole. Fitts came out on top in 19 holes to set up a championship match with No. 2 seeded Getz on Sunday.
The match with Getz started much the same as her semifinal, with Fitts falling behind early, but rallying back in the end.
"Both Matches against Megan and Hallie, I was down two early and trailed until the end," Fitts said. "I knew I had the mental game and just kept telling myself that I could come back and win. Going into the last few holes I just buckled down and didn't make any mistakes that would cost me."
Fitts finished 1-Up in the title match to come away with the title. Fitts said that while this championship did not reach the level of her Great Plains Athletic Conference championships, it was definitely a special moment. Fitts is the three-time-defending GPAC champion heading into her senior season with the Tigers.