Spicer wins 44th VSGA Women’s Stroke Play
Jessica Spicer, who just finished her golf career at Virginia Tech, won the championship of the Virginia State Golf Association’s women’s stroke play Thursday.
Spicer posted a three-day total of 217 to win the title by two strokes in the 44th playing of the event, which wrapped up Thursday afternoon at Stoney Creek at Wintergreen Resort.
Spicer, a member of Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech, became the second straight Hokie to win the title and the third since 2017. Becca DiNunzio defeated Tech teammate Emily Mahar last year at Kingsmill, and Amanda Hollandsworth won in 2017 at Blacksburg Country Club.
“I think Tech coach Carol Robertson is going to be pretty happy,” Spicer said. “She texted me last night and was very excited that (Tech teammate) Alyssa Montgomery and I were battling it out in the final round. I think she just loves to see Hokie headcovers out there in the final group.”
Spicer finished two shots clear of the trio tied for second—Montgomery, High Point’s Danielle Suh, and soon-to-be James Madison player Tatum Walsh. Four-time champion Lauren Greenlief rounded out the top five at 221, having recovered from an opening-round 78 to shoot 72-71 over the final two days.
Spicer’s short game played a huge role in her even-par 72 in the final round. She got up and down out of the bunker on No. 16 to save a key par down the stretch followed that up with a birdie on 17, a hole she birdied all three days. That gave her a three-shot lead heading to the final hole on Stoney Creek’s Shamokin nine, though she didn’t know it.
She chose not to check the leaderboard, and in retrospect, she said if she had known where she stood, it might have changed her strategy off the tee on 18. Spicer’s drive went way right into some trees, but fortunately she had an opening to punch out of and reached the back of the green on the par-4 hole in three shots. She was left with an extremely tricky downhill putt to a front-hole location, and she nudged it close to set up a bogey putt. She missed it, but no one in the final group was able to make birdie to make her pay for the final-hole double bogey.
Spicer hadn’t held a late lead in a stroke-play event since winning the Carolinas Amateur in 2019, so she said there were some nerves down the stretch.
“I had a few shaky shots out there all three days, but to really grind it out with the short game and just manage the course really well and make really smart decisions, I was really happy with that,” Spicer said. “Even if I’m not 100 percent on, I can still shoot good scores and win tournaments. It’s definitely a confidence boost.”
Spicer plans to play in several high-profile events over the next month or so, including the North and South Women’s Amateur at Pinehurst. She’s going to enjoy the next stretch of amateur golf before deciding whether to take a shot at playing professionally.
“It’s definitely on the radar,” Spicer said. “I’ve had a lot of people suggesting that if you’re going to try it, now’s the time, right after you graduate from college. It’s not like you can go work for five or six years and then go back and try to play high-level golf. It’s definitely an option. But for now, I’m going to stay amateur and just enjoy this summer, work on my game, and see what happens.”
