Vicki Goetze

In a match between two teenagers, Vicki Goetze, of Hull, Georgia, became the third youngest U.S. Women's Amateur champion by defeating Brandie Burton, 17, of Rialto, California, 4 and 3, on the No. 2 course of the Pinehurst Country Club, in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

A highschool junior, Miss Goetze was 16 years, 9 months and 19 days old on the day of the final. She was playing in her first U.S. Amateur Championship. A week earlier, Miss Burton had defeated Miss Goetze in a semifinal match in the Girls' Junior Championship. Miss Burton won the championship the next day.

Miss Goetze ended the scheduled 36-hole match by scoring birdies on the 34th and 36th holes. Miss Burton won three of the first four holes of the Women's Amateur final, but Goetze went ahead to stay at the 13th. Although a short hitter, Miss Goetze won five of the nine par 5s played, even though Miss Burton had chances to reach several of those holes in two shots. Miss Goetze's play around the greens made the difference.

She holed six birdie putts during the match, and was 1-under-par when it ended. Miss Goetze was one of the low qualifiers, and most of her matches were one-sided, except against Terri Thompson, of Savannah, Georgia. Miss Thompson had Miss Goetze two holes down with three to play, but Miss Goetze won the match with three consecutive birdies. Her birdie on the 18th hole was a 30-foot putt from off the green.

Pat Hurst, the 1986 Girls' Junior champion, led qualifying by shooting 69-74- 143, but lost in the first round of match play. ThreeOfficial Website Of The 2005 U.S. Women's Amateur Championship| Past Champions reached match play. The others were Carol Semple Thompson (1973), Anne Sander (1963), and Michiko Hattori (1985), who also won at 16. Mrs. Thompson lost to Miss Goetze in the semifinals.