Cydney Clanton Advances To Championship Match Of North & South Amateur - AuburnTigers.com

Cydney Clanton Advances To Championship Match Of North & South Amateur Clanton fell to Amelia Lewis, 3-and-2, in championship

Cydney Clanton

July 18, 2009

PINEHURST, N.C. - Auburn rising junior Cydney Clanton advanced to the finals of the 2009 North & South Women's Amateur Championship, but fell short Saturday as she fell 3-and-2 to Amelia Lewis on Pinehurst's No. 2 Course.

Conducted by Pinehurst Resort, the 107th North and South Women's Amateur Championship was a four-day match play tournament on the Pinehurst No. 2 Course. The par-73 golf course played at 6,472 yards for the tournament.

Lewis and Clanton played a 36-hole championship match on Saturday. Lewis, a Jacksonville, Fla., native took the early lead and was 2-up after six holes, but Clanton won the next two holes to square the match before taking the lead on the 13th hole.

Clanton was up by as many as three holes on Nos. 16 and 22, but lost four of the next five holes as Lewis took the lead and the eventual win.

Clanton won five matches in three days to advance to the championship. She started off with a 3-and-2 win over Taylor Barrett in the first round and followed up with a 19-hole victory over Stacey Keating in the second round.

She picked up a 4-and-2 win over Sydney Crane in the third round before taking down Nannette Hill, 1-up, in the quarterfinals. Clanton punched her ticket for the championship match with a 4-and-3 win over Lisa McCloskey in the semifinals.

Clanton was one of four current and former Tigers playing in the match play tournament. Also competing were rising senior Candace Schepperle, rising sophomore Haley Wilson and former player and coach Virginia Derby Grimes.

Grimes fell in the first round, taking a 2-and-1 loss to Dori Carter. Also dropping out in the first round was Wilson, who fell to Courtney Gunter, 1-up.

Schepperle, the top overall seed in the tournament, fell to Abby Bools in the second round, 5-and-4. She advanced after defeating Sarah Elliott in the first round in 20 holes.

Schepperle stuck around for Saturday's final and actually served as caddy for her teammate Clanton in the championship match.