High Winds Can’t Stop Dy, Pietila in the LPGA Volvik Championship Amateur Pre-Qualifier

High Winds Can’t Stop Dy, Pietila in the LPGA Volvik Championship Amateur Pre-Qualifier

ANN ARBOR—Anika Dy and Hannah Pietila made it a day they will never forget. The two players both shot 77 Thursday to gain co-medalist honors in the LPGA Volvik Championship Amateur Pre-Qualifier at Leslie Park Golf Course.

The two players now advance to the LPGA Volvik Championship qualifier on Monday at Eagle Crest Golf Club in Ypsilanti. Two players from that 18-hole event will gain a spot in the field at the Championship Tournament next week at Travis Pointe Country Club.

Dy, who was honored in 2016 as the by the Michigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Association (MIGCA) with the state’s Miss Golf Award, is a junior at Traverse City West High School.
As a sophomore, Dy led her team to the 2015 Division 1 State Finals title, two regional & conference crowns, made the All-State Team Division I in 2015, made BNC First Team, and competed in the Drive Chip and Putt National Finals at Augusta National for the past two years, placing third overall for Girls 14-15 this past April 2015.

She was the medalist in 10 out of the 13 tournaments in 2016, finishing runner-up three other times. She finished with an impressive 70.7 scoring average breaking the course record at Grayling CC with a 5-under 65 and tying another course record with a 5-under 67 at Petoskey-Bay View CC.

Not only were her best scores low, but her worst score this entire season was just a 4-over 76.

The consistency she has showcased in her scores translates to her academics as well. Despite the demands of a long season and travel, she maintains a 4.0-grade point average.

Pietila is a graduate of Brighton High School and played four years at the University of Tennessee. Before attending Tennessee, she won the Michigan Junior GAM in 2013.

As a freshman at UT, she started every match and had her first Top-25 finish at the Mercedes-Benz Championships in Knoxville, Tenn., where she shot a two-round total of 145 (+3).
In her four-year varsity career, she had six Top Ten finishes and 10 Top 25 finishes.

This past year, Pietila recorded below-par rounds on all three days of the Kauth Invite in San Antonio en route to the Vols lowest 54-hole score of the fall (209).

Though the Leslie Park Golf Course was in pristine conditions, a two to sometimes three club wind greatly affected the playability and thus the scores today. The scores ranged from 77 to 88.
The LPGA Volvik Championship runs from Monday, May 22 to Sunday, May 28. The four-day, 72-hole championship starts on Thursday, May 25 at Travis Pointe Country Club.

For ticket information, go to www.volviklpga.com

via Bruce Madej for Volvik LPGA Championship