|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
U.S. WOMEN'S AMATEUR FOUR-BALL CHAMPIONSHIPMay 24, 2016Alex AustinLauren GreenliefStreamsong, Florida Q. So you guys had a long day, a couple long battles. How does it feel to make it to the semis? LAUREN GREENLIEF: You know, it's a great feeling. I mean, I came into it the first day, and Alex and I kind of agreed that this is a marathon tournament and you've got to just kind of grind it out. You drown it and take one shot at a time, and I think we did that well together. Q. How do you feel Alex? ALEX AUSTIN: It's exciting. This is really exciting for me. This is the first time really playing in a USGA event. I played on the state team, so being in the quarterfinals is fun. Q. I know they kept it close. I don't think you guys ever trailed though, but also never quite pulled far away. How was the battle out there with your fellow Mid-Ams? You're not quite there yet. LAUREN GREENLIEF: She's almost there. ALEX AUSTIN: Almost. LAUREN GREENLIEF: Getting there. We never trailed. We were 3-up through 10, so that definitely felt more comfortable than being 1-up after I guess, what was it, 12? ALEX AUSTIN: Yeah. LAUREN GREENLIEF: But we were hitting solid golf shots and we just couldn't get the putts to drop, and it kind of felt like we kept hitting it solid, and we were happy to be able to pull it out. Q. Can you guys talk about you were in the playoffs a couple days ago. You were this close to not even getting here, and now you're two wins away from a title? LAUREN GREENLIEF: We were in a playoff to get into the event in the first place, too. ALEX AUSTIN: Yeah. LAUREN GREENLIEF: The qualifier. Q. Just a little pressure, right? ALEX AUSTIN: Yeah, just our first two rounds nothing really fell for us and then putts started to fall during match play. LAUREN GREENLIEF: I think match play kind of frees you up too. You kind of know exactly where you're at and exactly what you have to do. I think that makes it a little easier to drop some birdies. Q. You get a little more feel for the golf course too the more you play it? Because it seems it's getting pretty firm out there. We're hearing balls thump on greens pretty loudly out there. Are you now a little more familiar with what to expect from the golf course? ALEX AUSTIN: Yeah, I think so. LAUREN GREENLIEF: Yeah, I think we have all our lines now, I think. The wind changed a little bit. This afternoon it was actually blowing in a different direction than it has all week. But I think definitely getting our lines off the tee. I know hole 7 was one that we played a little better each and every day, and the first few rounds we kind of missed the bounces on the greens. I think on that hole in particular is when we're really (Indiscernible). Q. What was that again? LAUREN GREENLIEF: 7. Q. Let's talk about 17 or 16, I'm sorry, the par-3. It seems like that has played the hardest hole all week. And you get down to the end of these matches and you guys have had to play there. How difficult is that hole to kind of navigate being a 200-yard par-3, uphill? ALEX AUSTIN: So that hole we always joke about (Indiscernible). Just hitting driver into it these past couple days has been total. LAUREN GREENLIEF: Today the wind was sitting down so I was able to take two full clubs less, and it made the hole a little bit more playable. But definitely having that 205-yard shot up in the wind with the big bunker on the right kind of gives you something to think about. You have to visualize the shot and try to hit it on the left side of the green. Q. Especially the way it comes around. Toward the end if you're in a tight match, does it play that hole does that get in your head a little bit? LAUREN GREENLIEF: It's a hole where you've got to grind it out and try to make par and make your three and hope it's good enough. I think it's one of those golf courses. Q. How was your stamina? You've played a lot of golf in the last six or seven days. I know you're 25. You're Mid-Amateur, a young Mid-Amateur. ALEX AUSTIN: It's a lot of golf for anybody. Q. How are you feeling? LAUREN GREENLIEF: I'm feeling good. I'm not as tired as I thought I would be, and you kind of play on adrenaline in these things. It helps carry it through. I've played a lot of golf and a lot of long golf tournaments. Especially winning the Mid-Am last year and being out in the Louisiana heat and playing all those days in a row, gets you in that mindset and it's definitely helped me out here. Q. I know the kids, these guys are playing all the time. You guys work so you're not as accustomed to playing as much golf as they are? LAUREN GREENLIEF: Yeah, I took some time off last summer. I played 72 straight days, so I'm kind of used to it. Q. You guys run marathons to stay in shape? Congratulations. What do you do to keep yourself in shape? Do you work out a lot? LAUREN GREENLIEF: I try and work out as much as I can. When I'm working, I'm in a hotel room three nights a week, so it's a little more difficult. But I play three days a week on the weekend, and I always walk and try to keep up with it. Q. What is your job again? LAUREN GREENLIEF: I'm a management consultant with the Boston Consultant Group. Q. So there is a lot of traveling? LAUREN GREENLIEF: Yeah, I travel four days a week. Q. Big distances? LAUREN GREENLIEF: Mainly east coast, some mid-west, but it's not too bad. I'm used to it. Q. And what do you do? ALEX AUSTIN: I'm actually thinking about turning professional, so I just practice every day. Q. So transitioning? ALEX AUSTIN: Yes. Q. You built the 3-up lead and then it got chipped away to one, and you were able to extend it. Tell me about that back nine and what you did to keep your games going ahead? ALEX AUSTIN: Well, we made a bogey and then we made par, and then when they made the birdie. But we just kept going, and the par was good. (Indiscernible). LAUREN GREENLIEF: Yeah, my read on the back nine was just we were both hitting solid shots and we were both in all the holes, we just couldn't get putts to drop. So it's one thing when people are chipping away at your lead and you're just hitting bad golf shots and you're out of play and giving holes away. But I felt a little calmer because both of us were hitting it solid and we had chances. So eventually we knew something was going to happen. Q. That birdie on 15 about 12 feet maybe, something like that? ALEX AUSTIN: Yeah, I would say it was about 12 feet. Q. That got you back to 2-up and kind of closed the door with only three to go? ALEX AUSTIN: Yeah, it felt good knowing we had that 2-lead gap going into 16. Q. Yeah, because like you were saying, 16 was a tough hole, like 1-hole lead compared to 2? LAUREN GREENLIEF: Yeah, Alex's birdie putt on 15 was kind of the classic match play turn around where they had two shots and they were close, and missed their first one. Alex makes hers, and Sam's 15-footer was tougher at that point, so it was a classic match play situation. Q. You lean on your experience tomorrow? The fact you've won a National Championship and know what it takes? LAUREN GREENLIEF: Yeah, I think it definitely helps having gone through Squire and I've played a ton of these events throughout the years. I try to clean on the experience and stay a little calmer and just visualize the shots and kind of work as a team I think in four-ball is really important. So we'll keep doing what we're doing. Q. How did this partnership come together for this event? Because you played this event last year but with a different partner? LAUREN GREENLIEF: I did. My partner last year thought about turning pro, and because Q-School was happening last year I called up Alex. I've known Alex for a really long time. We were talking about it today when we first met. But we've probably played Virginia golf together over a decade. So it was a natural choice, and Alex played really solid golf last year, so it was a natural pairing. Q. As juniors, did you play against each other? ALEX AUSTIN: Yeah, we took lessons from the same guy, same instructor. LAUREN GREENLIEF: A small driving range, and that's where I actually met her. She was a couple years younger. Q. Where was that? ALEX AUSTIN: Braddock Road in northern Virginia. I don't even know what it was. Q. Who was the pro? ALEX AUSTIN: Henry Seymour, this real short little guy. Q. How close (Indiscernible)? ALEX AUSTIN: 20 minutes. Q. So you see each other a lot? LAUREN GREENLIEF: Yes, in the state of Virginia, the VAGA runs two events a year, so we'd bump into each other a lot. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|