Kayla Osborne earns her third Evansville Women's City Tournament victory
· Yahoo Sports
EVANSVILLE — Kayla Osborne almost forgot how nervous competitive golf could become.
The last five years brought a lot of change in her life, specifically a growing family with three young children. Any free time devoted to consistently playing is long gone. But as she traversed the back nine at Evansville Country Club on Sunday, those same nerves returned in force.
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And like many times throughout her career, Osborne swatted away the negative forces to stand alone.
The former University of Evansville standout claimed her third Women's City Tournament championship, first in five years, with a final-round 5-over par 75 at ECC. Her two-day total of 141 (1-over) was enough to beat defending champion Ashley Kirkland by two shots.
"It's been a few years," Osborne said. "I've had three kids since my last win. I'm happy to just be able to play in the tournament again thanks to my family. I forgot what the nerves felt like a little bit, but my husband calmed me down as my caddy."
This victory is memorable not just because she returned to the podium. It's how she was required to win it.
Osborne held a two-shot lead overnight following a 4-under 66 at Fendrich. That increased to five through 10 holes in the final round. It mattered not the circumstance or difficulty — Osborne took command with a short game reminiscent of her days at UE or Castle High School. She recorded 10 straight pars to remain at 4-under heading to the 11th.
Her start around the greens was nearly perfect. Osborne only registered 11 putts on the front nine with seven up-and-down saves. The only misses were birdie putts at 2 and 8 (her ball zipped by the cup for a near ace at the latter) that burned the edge. This looked like the Osborne who won back-to-back City titles in 2020 and '21.
"My short game is what saved me," she said. "I felt like every time I missed the green, I was able to save par. My front nine was pretty solid."
How did the leaderboard tighten? One, the back nine at ECC didn't make life easy for the leader. The other was who attempted to chase her down.
Kirkland, a three-time IHSAA state runner-up, failed to gain ground on the front with multiple putts refusing to drop. The deficit stood at five until the Castle grad dropped a 15-foot birdie at 11, paired with a bogey from Osborne. The leader dropped two shots at 13 to make it a two-shot cushion. Another stroke was gained at 17 when a chip came back to Osborne in front of the green.
Kirkland did what she could to stay within striking distance. She made critical pars on both back nine par-5s to gain three shots. There was also an impressive bogey at 16 after her second shot hit the cart path left of the green but somehow didn't go out of bounds.
"I've always been a better chaser," Kirkland said. "I just have another gear that makes me try to get it back. In the back nine, (Osborne) started to struggle. That's when I really try to take advantage of it."
The championship was decided at 18. Kirkland sent her approach long and saw the ensuing pitch race past the cup. She nearly made the comebacker, once again burning the edge. Osborne found the putting surface in two and made an eight-foot par save. If Kirkland's putt dropped, there might have been a few additional nerves.
It was still an impressive closing stretch to fight back. Kirkland transferred to Ball State following a Big East Freshman of the Year campaign at Xavier. The next step is building upon this summer for when she arrives next month.
"Just trying to get as good as I can before I get there," the two-time City champion said. "The putts just weren't falling for me this week. I kept getting those lip outs and skimming the edge. I struggled to get the putter home."
Rounding out the top 10 were Layna Patel (74-75), Kate Edwards (70-80), two-time champion Katelyn Schantz (77-77), Deeya Patel (75-79), 2024 champion Taylor Howerton (72-82), Trinity Dubbs (71-85), Abby Shires (75-84), Kiley Strandring (81-81) and Leena Rice (82-80).
The other winners were Lydia Aldridge (First Flight), Libby Kirkland (Second Flight), Jackie Russell (Suzanne Noblett Division), Becky Howard (Sally Becker Division) and Kathy Hilgeman (Kay Conder Division). Becky Owen also competed in her 50th straight Women's City Tournament.
"I enjoyed playing with Ashley again," Osborne said. "She's a great competitior. If you've grown up in Evansville, this tournament means a lot. It's a great community, and we're always excited to get to play these tournaments."
Kyle Sokeland is a sports reporter for the Courier & Press. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @kylesokeland or email at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Kayla Osborne earns her third Evansville Women's City Tournament victory