Amanda wins Virginia Girls State Championship!

My former student of 5 years, Amanda Steinhagen, senior at Oakton HS, just won the Girls States shooting 70-68. She won it two years ago as well.

I was lucky enough to be there in Virginia Beach and see her finish. Great job Amanda, and good luck at Longwood next year!! My players from Westfield HS all finished in the top 15 out of 100 girls.

Here is an excerpt from the Washington Post article yesterday:


Steinhagen's 50-foot putt seals second title

Having all but wrapped up her second state title in three years, Oakton senior Amanda Steinhagen joked with one of her playing partners as she lined up a putt on the final hole of her high school golf career.

Steinhagen lamented leaving herself the longest putt of her round, a 50-footer.

"Why don't you just sink it and make it easy on yourself?" one of the other golfers asked.

Apparently, it was that easy. Steinhagen sank the long putt for her fifth birdie of the round, completing a spectacular two-day run in which she shot 2-under-par 70-68 -- 138 to win the Virginia High School League girls' open championship at Kempsville Greens Municipal Golf Course in Virginia Beach.

Steinhagen, who also won the tournament as a sophomore, finished 11 strokes ahead of her nearest competitor. Lauren Coughlin of Hickory beat Paige Reese of Park View-South Hill in a playoff for second after both finished at 149.

Starting the round with a four-stroke lead, she birdied the par-5 fifth hole and then made a 20-foot putt for birdie on No. 7. Other than a double bogey on No. 16, Steinhagen was pleased with the round.

"Today, I was more focused on being consistent rather than just going for pins and putting down a low score," said Steinhagen, who in two weeks plans to sign a national letter-of-intent to play for Longwood. "This is what I was really kind of hunting for all year long. I've been really looking forward to this."


-- Josh Barr