GOLF / U.S. WOMEN’S AMATEUR : Better Late Than Never, Koyama Wins for UCLA

In her last golf tournament as an amateur, Debbi Koyama is finally getting the hang of match play.

Koyama, in a tense match of UCLA vs. USC, eliminated medalist Heidi Voorhees, 3 and 2, Thursday at San Diego Country Club to advance to the quarterfinals of the 93rd U.S Women’s Amateur Championship.

After they won their morning matches, Koyama, from UCLA, and Vorhees, from USC, met in the afternoon. Voorhees got into trouble on the first hole and never recovered.

It wasn’t a total loss for USC. Jill McGill, a Trojan from Denver, outlasted local favorite Leta Lindley, 1 up, in probably the best-played match of the day.

Lindley, an Arizona senior from Carlsbad, took the lead by sinking a 12-foot downhill putt for a birdie on No. 9, but the long-hitting McGill birdied the par-five 10th. She won the match when Lindley bogeyed Nos. 15 and 16.

“We both knew it was going to be a tough match, and we were focused,” McGill said. “I knew I had to play my best because Leta has already proved herself a top amateur.”

Koyama, who has never made it through the quarterfinals in seven U.S. Amateurs, will meet Wendy Ward this morning, with the winner advancing to the semifinals in the afternoon. McGill will play Kelly Pittman, a graduate student at Florida State.

Ward, a junior at Arizona State, beat Martina Koch of Germany, 4 and 3, in her afternoon match.

Two of the original nine foreign players survived. Pernille Pedersen of Denmark and Estefania Knuth of Spain won two matches. Pedersen, who eliminated Italy’s Caterina Quintarelli, 5 and 3, will play Brittany Schaff, who had to go 22 holes to defeat Rachel Bates in the final match of an 11-hour day of golf.

“I don’t know how I’ll play against Wendy, but today was a grudge match,” Koyama said. “In a way I didn’t play just for me. I always want to beat USC. And I always root for anybody that plays USC, too.

“I haven’t done that well in match play, but it would be something to win my last tournament. I feel I’m finally getting the hang of match play. In two weeks I’ll be in qualifying school for the LPGA.

“One thing that has really helped, though, is having Elizabeth (Bowman) caddying for me. She’s another Bruin and she knows my game. I’m sorry she didn’t qualify, but she sure helps me. With all the wind and the difficult lies, it helps to confer with Elizabeth.”

Koyama, who was born in Japan but has lived in the United States for 12 years, was two under par in the morning when she beat Angela Buzminski, 5 and 4.

Voorhees, a 20-year-old from North Hollywood who had been dominating the tournament, rallied from a two-hole deficit to beat Carri Wood of Maine, 2 and 1.

On the first hole of the match against Koyama, Voorhees pulled her drive into the woods. She had her back against a tree and could just push her second shot into the fairway.

She was four over par and 3 down after four holes.

“You can’t let someone like Koyama get that kind of a jump,” Voorhees’ coach, Chris Mullane, said.

Knuth, who is 20, is a junior in college in Spain. She speaks four languages, including English. In her first U.S. Amateur, she beat Anne Sander, a three-time champion from Santa Barbara, then defeated Stephanie Neill.

Knuth will play Curtis Cup veteran Sarah Ingram, the Nashville housewife who rallied from 2 down to beat Julie Brand, 4 and 3, in her afternoon match.

There will be four matches this morning, and the winners will play again in the afternoon. The survivors will meet in a 36-hole final Saturday.