Gaunt successfully defended his 2022 title and Holmes held the trophy in just her second appearance in the event.
June 6, 2023
By Chris Werner
USGA P.J. Boatwright Jr. Intern
Conor Gaunt and Madison Holmes won the men’s and women’s Arkansas State Amateur Championships on June 3 at Chenal Country Club in Little Rock.
For Full-Field Results, click HERE.
Gaunt’s three-round 12-under total was good enough for the Cabot native to defeat Little Rock’s Mitchell Ford by three strokes and repeat as the champion. In 2022, Gaunt won with a 10-under total at Hardscrabble Country Club in Fort Smith.
Through the 54-holes of competition at Chenal from Thursday-Saturday, Gaunt tallied 16 birdies and an eagle, counting seven birdies during the final round.
After a double bogey on the par-4 second hole shrunk his lead over Ford to one on the final day, Gaunt managed a birdie on the next hole but gave it back with a bogey on the fifth hole.
After Gaunt and Ford carded matching pars on the par-3 sixth, Ford’s sixth consecutive par to begin the round, Gaunt began to heat up.
He birdied holes seven and nine to make the turn in even-par 36 and 8-under-par for the tournament. Gaunt’s lead was two at the turn after Ford matched his birdie on the par-5 ninth.
On the back nine, Gaunt holed four birdies and did not drop a stroke while Ford managed five birdies, including each of the final three holes, but made a costly double-bogey seven on the par-5 12th.
“Definitely feels awesome,” Gaunt said after the victory. “Today's round wasn't as smooth as I thought it was going to be, had some adversity right off the second hole, made double and just to bounce back and shoot for under today make [seven] birdies coming in is just everything you ask for. Couldn't be more proud of myself.”
Gaunt, who is coming back to LSU to take advantage of the fifth year of eligibility offered to all athletes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said he will likely join the professional ranks after next college season is over. He said to repeat as champion in what may well be his final State Am is a great accomplishment.
“Definitely to be back-to-back champion is a big deal,” Gaunt said. “I don't know if it'll be my last [State Am], but I plan to turn pro this time next year so we'll see, but it's definitely good to get my name on [the trophy] twice.”
In the women’s division, Holmes, from Paragould, came back from a three-shot deficit on the final day to defeat Anna Kate Nichols of Little Rock.
Holmes and Nichols were knotted atop the leaderboard after day one, firing matching rounds of 2-over 74, Nichols took the solo lead after round two with a 71 to Holmes’ second straight 74, but Holmes bested Nichols over the final 18 holes as she came in with a 3-under-par 69 and Nichols fired a 1-over-par 73.
Holmes dropped four shots in each of the first two rounds, making two bogeys and a double in round one and four bogeys in round two. But during the most important round of the tournament on Saturday, her card was squeaky clean.
She made back-to-back birdies on holes three and four, a birdie on the 10th hole, and 15 pars.
Nichols fell behind by three after a front-nine 38 and a bogey on 10, but she fought back with birdies on 16 and 17 to close the deficit to one.
Nichols made par on 18 after her second shot found the left fringe, leaving her about 40 feet from the flag for her third, and Holmes elected to chip her ball from just in front of the green to a front hole location. Holmes' chip rolled to a stop roughly three feet past the past, but the incoming junior at Central Arkansas rolled in the par putt to seal the victory in just her second appearance in the State Am.
“I rolled in a few more putts [than rounds one and two,]” Holmes said of her final round. “You know, I got my round started early, had a good up-and-down on two, sank a 12-footer and then on three and four, another 13-14 footer, just get it rolling early. I had the putts rolling, and you know, just didn’t really make many mistakes.”
Holmes said she did a good job of playing her own game and sticking to her own processes even though she had to chase Nichols down in the final round.
“It means so much,” Holmes said of her win. “It's huge to have my name on this trophy and just to be Arkansas amateur champion.”
Next year’s State Amateur Championships will take place at Jonesboro Country Club, one of the seven founding ASGA Member Clubs.
State Amateur Championships future locations:
-2024 Jonesboro Country Club*
-2025 Country Club of Little Rock*
-2026 Blessings Golf Club
-2027 The Alotian Club (Golf Digest Top 50)
-2028 Pinnacle Country Club
-2029 Texarkana Country Club*
-2030 Hot Springs Country Club*
-2031 Pleasant Valley Country Club
-2032 Hardscrabble Country Club
ASGA Founding Member Club*
The next ASGA “Major” Championships will be the Men’s and Women’s Match-Play Championships at Burns Park Golf Course in July. Register here for the women’s event set to take place July 11-14, and here for the men’s tournament scheduled for July 27-30.
