June 29, 1999
News Sports More Services
By Terry Hutchens
Indianapolis Star/News
FISHERS, Ind. - Kellee Booth's mother, Jane
Bastanchury Booth, was 2,000 miles away in Southern California Sunday when
her daughter won the Women's Western Golf Association National Amateur
Championship at Hawthorns Golf and Country Club.
It was probably just as well.
"She just gets so nervous and uptight watching me play that California was probably a good place for her today," Kellee Booth said, moments after a 3 and 2 victory over Hilary Homeyer in the 36-hole championship match.
"When she does come to my matches, she's always watching someone else out on the course, if possible. Either that, or a friend is having to pull her out of the woods to see me take a shot."
Mom and daughter would have had plenty to talk about Sunday. In winning the national amateur title, Kellee Booth won the same tournament that her mother won in 1969 and 1970. It's the first time that a mother and daughter have won the tournament.
Jane Bastanchury Booth stayed home this week to get her house ready to sell.
She and her husband, Mike, are planning a move to Florida. Mike caddied for his daughter at the Hawthorns.
"I'm really proud of her," Kellee's mother said by telephone from her home in Coto de Caza, Calif. "It means a lot because she's wanted to win something that I won for a long, long time. And the Women's Western is one of those special tournaments."
Kellee, the No. 1-ranked amateur in the nation, came close last year, losing in the finals to Grace Park at Heritage Club in Mason, Ohio. After that, she decided not to turn pro but work on her game for one more shot at the national amateur.
Now she has another decision to make regarding her amateur status. She must decide by the U.S. Women's Amateur in August whether to turn pro or remain an amateur one more year and play in the Curtis Cup next summer in England.
Sunday, she appeared to be leaning toward turning pro.
"This victory is definitely going to weigh heavily in the decision," Booth said. "I have six more weeks, but this one was an important part of that decision."
Booth was 1-up after the first 18 and happy to be there. On the par 4, 398-yard 18th hole, Booth's tee shot went left into a water hazard. She was still able to halve the hole, however, with a bogey when Homeyer found a tough lie to the right.
Booth then birdied the first hole of the second 18 to go up 2. She went up 4 with a birdie on 11 and a par on 12. Homeyer got one hole back on 14 when Booth's tee shot found a lateral hazard to the right.
Homeyer, the 13th-ranked amateur, appeared as if she was going to make things interesting at No. 16 when she hit her third shot on the par 5, 520-yard hole to within eight inches of the cup. Booth's third shot was 15 feet above the pin. But Booth calmly rolled it in for birdie to wrap up the match.