Breanna Elliott

After a grueling week of sun, humidity and afternoon thunder-storms the field of 99 players came down to a match between Australia and the Philippines. Breanna Elliott of Melbourne earned her spot in the finals representing her home country, Australia, and 5 foot, small but mighty, 15 -year old Princess Mary Superal from Cavite in the Philippines.

Superal, although very petite, had a mighty short game and was off to a quick lead in this 36-hole final posting a birdie on number 3, a 357 yard par 4. Elliott immediately answered back with birdies on hole 4, the 510 yard par 5, and hole 6, the 360 yard par 4.

Elliot seemed to be literally throwing darts at the holes on her approach shots to take the lead. At one point, on the twenty-second hole Elliott was up 6 holes but Superal just would not give in. Superal truly gave an amazing performance of accuracy and short game. She worked hard to reduce Elliott’s lead with a series of birdies.

Elliot, the long and strong Aussie, just dug her heals in hard and tried to use the advantage of her long game to wear Superal down. Elliott was able to make some incredible shots like her 35-yard sand save on the 194 yard 12th hole par 3 to save par. It was clear that Elliott was holding tight to her hard earned lead. The match took a final turn to Elliot’s favor on hole 15, the 160 -yard par 3 over water. After her birdie there, Elliott was “dormie” with a 3 hole lead. The match was decided in Elliott’s favor with pars for both players on the 398 yard 16th, which is a tough uphill par 4 that Superal needed to win to stay in the match.

Breanna Elliott won top honors for winning the 82nd TRANS National Amateur Championship but also fellow countryman Whitney Hillier won the TRANS Medalist trophy. The Philippines took the silver with Princess Mary Superal’s runner-up place and the Trans Howell Team Trophy award that she won with countryman Sarah Jane Ababa. Although the United States players took bronze honors, there were a number of outstanding competitors like Kelsey Vines from San Antonio, Texas and Columbia’s own Kelli Murphy.

Breanna Elliott will continue her United States golf tournament schedule with a stop at the US Women’s Amateur hosted this year, August 6 through 12, at The Country Club in Cleveland, Ohio. Her September plans include LPGA Qualifying School in Florida.