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Manchester, NH – For the third-straight year, Tara Watt (Derryfield CC) has been crowed the New Hampshire Women’s Mid-Amateur Champion. With added pressure, she was able to close out this victory on her home course of Derryfield Country Club, winning by an impressive eight strokes. Watt went 71-74 for a 36-hole total of 145 (+5) and leaves with another trophy to add to her collection.

Starting out the day, Watt held a four-stroke lead over Dana Harrity (Abenaqui CC) and knew she needed to string together another good round to get the job done. Originally in her mind, she figured 18 pars would get her the win, but felt there might be a little wiggle room. She stated, “The number I was looking for was 75 or better, I thought that was good enough to hold up so just grind it out and get it done.”

She started out the front nine steady and consistent making five consecutive pars until the par-4, 6th hole at Derryfield which gave her trouble. Watt ended up making triple bogey there, following it up with two more bogeys to make the turn at five-over par, opening the door for her competitors to make a move.

“Honestly I was a little disheveled, but you can’t let one hole ruin your round so I just kind of pulled it together”, commented Watt after her win in reference to her triple bogey on the front nine.

With her five-over par front nine, Dana Harrity was just one shot back after nine holes with a glimmer of hope that she might be able to overtake Watt on the back nine. Despite Watt’s struggles, she was able to turn it around, just as she had done on the back nine in her first round of the tournament. She used her course knowledge and length to her advantage, making the necessary pars and rolling in one birdie putt on the back nine.

“I knew where I stood but I play better on the back”, stated Watt. “With my length, there are a couple of the par 4’s that I can drive so I just got really aggressive with it.”

The aggressive play paid off for her as she was able to extend her lead to six shots by the 14th hole and end up winning by eight shots in the end. Her 74 (+4) in the second round is right where she wanted to be to capture the title.

Watt has now won the New Hampshire Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship for three-straight years. For her, it seems to be the same excitement as when she won it in 2020. She said, “It’s great. There was a little added pressure this year playing at my home course and being the defending champion so there’s always the nerves but its great to be at home.”

“I had my best friend caddy for me today so that was helping with the nerves a little bit”, continued Watt.

Second place finisher, Sarah Daley, had a great tournament and ended up with the low round of the day, 73 (+3) to pass by Harrity on the leaderboard. Despite her 80 (+10) in the first round, Daley came into the final round of the championship poised and ready to take on the day. She started out with three-straight bogeys but birdied the 5th hole, making the turn at two-over par. Daley was able to play the back nine at just one over par, with a birdie and one double bogey, to card a 73 (+3) which was good enough to earn her second place by one stroke over Harrity.

Congratulations to the additional two Flight winners in the tournament, June Ferland (First Flight) and Laura Deluc (Second Flight). Thank you to Derryfield Country Club for hosting the New Hampshire Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship!

NH Women’s Mid-Amateur | Results