SUN CITY WEST, Ariz. — 36 holes were not enough to determine a winner at Westbrook Village Golf Club - Lakes Course. Needing a one-hole playoff to secure the victory, Kim Eaton + Tara Bateman (-6) outlasted Corey Weworski + Tori Totlis and captured their second consecutive Arizona Women’s Four-Ball Championship.
After trading the lead all day, Eaton + Bateman led by one stroke headed into the 18th hole. Eaton went long into a bunker and settled for par, while Totlis and Bateman’s shots found the water. The door was open for Weworski to force a playoff; her approach skipped across a lake and barely found grass on the other side short of the green. Despite an awkward, slightly uphill lie, Weworski chipped to a few feet and knocked in the putt for birdie.
The beauty of a Four-Ball Championship is the ability to pick up your partner after they hit a bad shot. In the playoff, Eaton hit her second shot left into the desert, but Bateman finished the job. After Totlis and Weworski settled for bogey, Bateman cozied up a 25-foot putt and tapped in for par to win the championship.
Tara Bateman hits her approach shot during the one-hole playoff at the 2024 Arizona Women's Four-Ball Championship (Photo by Alex Johnson)
“I knew (Kim) was in trouble, so I just tried to get it to the middle of the green. Both of us went first, then (Corey and Tori) hit shots that were off the fringe, so we got to watch where they were and I knew I had to get it around the hole to have a chance to win," Bateman said.
By defending their Arizona Women’s Four-Ball Championship, Eaton collected her eighth Four-Ball Championship; the first came with Christie Austen (2011), before she partnered with Leigh Klasse for the remaining five wins (2014, 2016, 2019, 2020 and 2021).
In addition to Eaton + Bateman’s win as the Overall Gross Champions, Kelly Lathrop + Linda Torrington also earned Kachinas as the tournament’s Overall Net Champions.
Net Champions Kelly Lathrop and Linda Torrington pose with their Kachinas (Photo by Alex Johnson)