The duo from Hot Springs carded rounds of 62 and 60 at Russellville Country Club to finish the 36-hole event at 22-under par.
June 12, 2023
Chris Werner
USGA P.J. Boatwright Jr. Intern
Nora Phillips and Pat Elliott of Hot Springs collected an eight-shot victory in the 2-Lady Scramble on Thursday and Friday at Russellville Country Club. The duo fired rounds of 62 and 60 to finish at 22-under-par and win their second team event in a month.
Phillips and Elliott, both from Hot Springs, followed up a win at the Women’s Eclectic on May 10 with a combined six eagles and 16 birdies over the 36-hole scramble format tournament. Paula Curtis and Julie Oxendine, of Marianna and Russellville, respectively, took second at 14-under.
“Nora is a very good partner to have,” Elliott said after the trophies had been handed out. “She's very steady and long. And very encouraging. She doesn't have any weaknesses. She helps me read the greens and line it up a little better, that sort of thing.”
Phillips said her and Elliott’s games work well together in the scramble format because one of them prefers to play prudently while the other tries to pull off the great shots.
“With the scramble, you know, I’m the aggressive one,” Phillips said. “You know, she's the, the mellow one pretty much, you know, put them on the fairway, and I can be aggressive, knowing that she's safe and all. So that's the good thing.”
Even after opening a 10-under 62, Phillips, who finished in seventh place at the State Am two weeks ago, and Elliott, currently in second place in the women’s Legends Division, had things they wanted to improve on heading into the final round.
The duo parred holes 16 and 17 in Round 1 — both par-5s — and the team was set on making birdie or better on those holes in the second round.
“We were not happy with the two pars we made on those two par-5s yesterday,” Elliott said, “but today we made up for it, we eagled one and birdied one … That’s all we could think about, birdieing those two holes.”
Phillips and Elliott and Curtis and Oxendine were the only two pairs in the 12-team field to go bogey-free for all 36 holes.
The next ASGA-sponsored championship will be the Arkansas Boys and Girls Junior Am scheduled for June 20-21 at Texarkana Country Club. The registration deadline is June 14 at 4 p.m.
