Modic Finally Gets a Grip, Pulls Away to Win Women’s Amateur Title

SAN DIEGO — Wendy Modic stood in a sand trap at the 17th hole of the Torrey Pines South Course, trying to stop a slide during which a six-shot lead over Susan Pankau in the final round of the San Diego Women’s Amateur Championships had dwindled to two.

Modic’s shot out of the bunker stopped a foot from the pin to set up a par. Her father and caddie, Frank, wiped his brow in relief. Modic, who had looked grim for most of the round, forced a smile. And Pankau, a recent Poway High School graduate, forced her game.

She soon discovered that charging the leader was a lot different than overtaking her. Pankau had to chip three times to get on the green, then three-putted for a quadruple-bogey.

Despite a final-round 79, Modic went on to her first individual tournament victory since she was in junior golf, winning the 54-hole event by six shots with a 13-over-par 229. Pankau finished with an 80 and was tied for second with Ruby Burks, who shot 77. Pankau parred the first playoff hole to defeat Burks, who finished second last year.

It hadn’t appeared that the tournament would offer much drama at the finish. Modic had led from the first round and was four shots ahead entering the final five holes. But she began to feel the pressure when she three-putted for a double bogey on No. 14 while Pankau bogeyed.

Pankau really put the pressure on at the 345-yard, par-four 15th by sinking an eight-foot putt for birdie. Modic needed a four-footer for par, but her putt lipped the cup, and her lead was suddenly down to a single stroke.

Pankau looked to be in command heading to the par-three 16th, having birdied two of the previous three par threes. But neither player seemed to want control. Modic missed a three-foot putt for par, and Pankau’s putt for bogey hit the back of the cup and popped out.

With a two-stroke lead, Modic rolled her second shot into the bunker on No. 17, and Pankau was still in the tournament.

“Actually, I thought I was going to pull it out,” Pankau said. “It just slipped away.”

She had company--Modic also felt things slipping. Modic, who finished her eligibility at San Diego State in the spring, was not used to finding herself in the lead or in an individual tournament. In four years at SDSU, her best finish was a fourth, and the past two summers she had worked at a tennis and golf camp in New Hampshire.

“I didn’t play in tournaments for myself,” said Modic, who had not played in an individual event in three years. “I always played on a team, so if I had a bad round somebody else could make up for it. But (today) I knew if I didn’t do it, nobody else was going to.”

The tournament was a good sign for Modic, who said she would like to try the pro tour after she finishes her final four classes at SDSU. Modic got a late start in the sport and did not start playing until she was 15. She walked on at SDSU but improved enough to earn a scholarship her final two years.

“My mother died when I was 9, and I was the youngest,” said Modic, 21. “So my dad and I started spending more time together. He is really into golf, and I would tag along at the golf course. I wasn’t that good when I started, but I thought if I worked at it I could become pretty good.”

But Modic is finding she still has a lot to learn. Especially in the mental part of the game.

“I didn’t like that on 14, 15, 16, but it’s all experience,” Modic said. “That is part of the game. What happened to (Pankau) could have gone the other way very easily.”