Macy Pate’s dominance at the Women’s North and South Amateur came to a quick halt in Saturday afternoon’s championship match at Pinehurst No. 2.
The Winston-Salem resident and Wake Forest standout, who claimed medalist honors in stroke play and followed with four straight match play victories lost 4 and 3 to Catie Craig, a Georgia native who plays at Western Kentucky.
Craig won the first four holes, withstood a Pate comeback attempt in the middle of the round, then pulled away for the victory. Pate bogeyed the first three holes before Craig won No. 4 with a birdie.
Pate won No. 6 with a par and the par-5 eighth with a birdie. But Craig regained control by winning Nos. 10 and 11 with pars.
Pate advanced to the final earlier Saturday with a 1-up victory over Kylee Choi. Craig, who was only one stroke behind Pate in stroke play rounds on Nos. 2 and 8 at the resort, beat Lynn Lim 5 and 3 in the semifinals.
Davis Ovard of Baylor rallied from an early two-hole deficit to beat Jackson Van Paris of Pinehurst and Vanderbilt 2 and 1 for the men’s championship. Trailing by one hole at the turn, Ovard won four of the first six holes on the back side.
