Summer of Satterfield: Rising star goes low for latest victory

Published 11:50 pm Thursday, July 24, 2014

Chatsworth’s Savannah Satterfield is proving her mettle on the golf course this summer, and her latest tournament outing resulted in another title and a record round.

Satterfield, who recently turned 14 and will be a freshman at North Murray High School this year, played in the 16-18 Masters division and shot a 1-over-par 72 — her personal best — to erase a two-shot deficit and win the Tennessee Junior Golf Tour’s Tournament of Champions on Wednesday at the Golf Club of Tennessee.

The invitation-only event at the 5,780-yard, par-71 course in Kingston Springs, Tenn., outside of Nashville, featured 12 of the top players from this year’s Tennessee Junior Golf Tour.

Satterfield finished the two-round event with a 4-over-par 146, finishing a stroke ahead of Abigail Heck of Memphis. Heck was the first round leader after shooing a 1-over 72 on Tuesday, while Satterfield was in third after an opening 74. Hollee Sadler of Manchester, Tenn., was in second with a 73.

Heck and Satterfield tied for the low round of the tournament after Satterfield’s second-round score.

Playing together in the final grouping of the day, Sadler had a tough beginning, bogeying four holes on the opening nine for a 40 at the turn and never mounted a charge after that.

But Satterfield and Heck had a strong battle to the end. Heck stretched her lead to three strokes over Satterfield with a birdie on the 136-yard, par-3 fourth. But she bogeyed three of her last four holes on the front nine, while Satterfield had birdies at seven and eight. Satterfield bogeyed nine, but was 1 under for the day and a stroke ahead at the turn.

“I knew I had to do three shots better than she did, so after the front nine, I had my three shots,” Satterfield said. “I just didn’t want to screw up on the back because that has been a place where I have lost a little focus.”

Heck tied for the lead with a birdie on the par-4 12th, but she had a triple bogey on the par-4 13th. Satterfield had bogeys at 13, 14 and 15, but when she came to the par-5 17th, she held a one-stroke lead.

Both Satterfield and Heck were chipping into the green on their third shots, and while Heck was within 4 feet for a birdie, Satterfield said her chip came up short “15 to 18 feet away.” With Heck almost assured of a birdie with a chance to tie the match if Satterfield made a par, Satterfield drained her putt to maintain the advantage.

“That put a lot of pressure on me, but I made the putt,” Satterfield said. “That was what helped me get the win more than anything. This is one of my biggest wins. Before this, my lowest round in competition was a 73, and both of my rounds were very consistent.”

Both players had par on 18 as Satterfield earned the win.

Satterfield has had a solid summer season. She won the Georgia Recreation and Parks Association state title earlier this month at Nob North Golf Course, and she was the top local finisher at the Georgia Girls Championship. In that tournament at the Standard Club in Johns Creek, Satterfield shot 84 and 83, respectively, in the first two rounds and closed with a 5-over-par 77 in the final round to finish 25th. In four Tennessee Junior Golf Tour events coming into the Tournament of Champions, Satterfield had a pair of third-place finishes.