ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, July 26, 1996 TAG: 9607260041
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
LEE SHIRLEY AND DOT BOLLING each advance to State Amateur finals.
By early this afternoon, Salem could be the home of two state women's golf champions.
Lee Shirley and Dot Bolling, whose Salem homes are located just a driver and a pitching wedge apart, each moved one step from claiming state titles Thursday in Hot Springs.
Shirley survived a pair of tough matches and will face Richmond's Maggie Balch in today's final of the 71st VSGA Women's State Amateur championship. Tee time for the 18-hole match at the Cascades course is 8:45 a.m.
At the same time, just three miles up the road on The Homestead course, Bolling will be gunning for the 39th Senior Women's Amateur title. Bolling will play Virginia Beach's Peggy Woodard in the 18-hole final.
``It would be just fantastic if we both could bring it home,'' said Bolling, who ousted defending champion Chris Epperly of Virginia Beach 1-up in Thursday's semifinal round.
Shirley, a 20-year-old junior at the University of North Carolina, advanced by beating Alexandria's Mimi Hoffman 2-up in their semifinal. Earlier, she had outlasted Reston's Sarah Kayson 1-up in a 20-hole quarterfinal match.
``I don't think I've ever played 38 holes of golf in one day in my life,'' Shirley said. ``It was two of the hardest matches you'd ever want to be in.''
Shirley came back from 2-down with three holes left to beat Kayson. The marathon ended on the playoff's second hole, where Shirley canned an 11-foot birdie putt.
In the afternoon against Hoffman, Shirley won the 15th hole to break a tie and closed out the match at No.18, where Hoffman, with her hopes dashed, conceded.
Bolling settled a back-and-forth affair with Epperly by winning No.17 to go 1-up and halving No.18.
LENGTH: Short : 42 linesby CNB