Shawn Rennegarbe qualifies for United States Women’s Amateur Championship

Shaking off the rust in the middle of a quiet summer of tournament golf, Shawn Rennegarbe’s game remained in top form last week during sectional qualifying for the United States Women’s Amateur Championship.

With her dad Greg Rennegarbe serving as her caddy, Rennegarbe shot a 1-over par 73 at Walnut Grove Country Club near Dayton, Ohio to earn a berth in the 2015 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, which begins August 10 at Portland, (Ore.) Country Club.

“I’m excited. It’s always fun to be able to play well enough to qualfy for a USGA National Tournament. Sometimes you can play at a (sectional) qualifier and still not get in,” Rennegarbe said.

“The course in Dayton was tough with fast, difficult greens and the last few holes coming in on the back nine are ones where making pars are almost like making birdies. They are very tough. I was just focused on making pars the last few holes.”

A native of Addieville and a four-time all-state player while at Nashville High School, the trip to the United States Amateur Championship will be the second in three years for the 19-year-old Rennegarbe, who also qualified in 2013.

A sophomore at the University of Arkansas for the 2015-16 season, Rennegarbe has also qualified for the United States Women’s Public Links Championship, the last time coming a year ago in Washington state.

Rennegarbe was redshirted a year ago as a member of the Razorbacks women’s program and has four years of athletic eligibilty remaining. The United States Amateur Championship is just one a few events in which Rennegarbe has competed this summer. She took medalist honors at the Illinois Women’s Amateur Championship qualifying round with a 72 but the tournament was then cancelled by several days of heavy rain and unplayable conditions.

But competing against 52 of the top amateur players in the Midwest last week in Dayton, the outgoing Rennegarbe was in top notch form. The 52-players were competing for six spots in the United States Amateur Championship.

“Having been in and having success in qualifiers like this before I think gives me an advantage in that mentally I know what to expect. Sometimes if you are not playing your best, you have to keep playing because there’s a good chance that the other players may be having trouble too,” Rennegarbe said. “Sometimes you can not play your best and still win or at least advance.”

Rennegarbe didn’t start out well at Walnut Grove. She was 3-over par after eight holes before making birdies on holes 9 and 11 to get back at 1-over. It’s kind of strange but those two holes may be two of the toughest on the golf course.” Rennegarbe said. “I hit my shot to within inched and tapped in for birdie on 9. That was a big confidence booster going into the back nine.

“Then on 11, I hit it to within 4-5 feet and made another birdie toget it back to 1-over. Like I said before, the last few holes coming in are very difficult. I just concentrated on making pars coming in.

Rennegarbe finished second in the event, one shot behind the medalist who shot 72. The United States Women’s Amateur Championship begins with two rounds of stroke play on Augst 10-11. The top 64 then begin match play on Aug. 12.

This story was originally published July 22, 2015 at 3:36 PM with the headline "Shawn Rennegarbe qualifies for United States Women’s Amateur Championship."