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Jackie Rogowicz defeats former Penn State teammate Olivia Zambruno to win Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur

Rogowicz, who recently graduated from Penn State, saw a 3-up lead trimmed to 1-up before getting a par for the win at 18. The two former teammates talked throughout the match.

Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur champion Jackie Rogowicz poses with the trophy after defeating former Penn State teammate Olivia Zambruno.
Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur champion Jackie Rogowicz poses with the trophy after defeating former Penn State teammate Olivia Zambruno.Read moreJoseph Juliano / Staff

They were competing Saturday for the championship of the Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur, but Jackie Rogowicz and Olivia Zambruno walked together for most of their match as if they were playing a practice round at Penn State. The conversations were frequent and light.

As things got tight late in the match at the Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Militia Hill course, the contestants kept the focus more on themselves and their games, especially when Rogowicz saw her 3-up lead trimmed to one with only the 18th hole to be played.

But Rogowicz, a Yardley resident who recently graduated from Penn State, held on with a clutch two-putt par at the last hole and captured the title with a 1-up victory over Zambruno, a Nittany Lions junior from Mount Pleasant, Pa.

“It was really fun,” Rogowicz said. “I know Olivia very well and she’s so nice. I’m happy for her as well. I thought she played really well.”

The two finalists each won their Saturday morning semifinal matches, 1-up, both advancing with a par at the 18th hole. Zambruno said “we were excited to play each other” in the final, and said that it wasn’t as much pressure playing against a friend.

“I think it did (take the pressure off) because we know each other so well,” she said. “It was a lot of fun out there. Just being able to keep it lighthearted out there and have fun for a while was good.”

Rogowicz, who won the first two holes and kept the lead throughout, putted solidly in the final. Birdie putts of three feet at the par-5 sixth and 15 feet at the par-4 seventh gave her a 3-up lead. After a birdie at No. 9 by Zambruno, Rogowicz regained a 3-up advantage at 13 by sinking a 15-foot birdie putt.

However, Zambruno got to within two holes after her opponent’s bogey at No. 15, and an excellent chip shot left her with a conceded birdie at No. 17 to extend the match to 18. Both contestants reached the par-4 hole in regulation with Rogowicz almost 50 feet away.

Rogowicz lagged her birdie putt to two feet and, after Zambruno missed her 35-foot birdie try, she tapped in for the win.

“I didn’t think I played that bad,” Rogowicz said of Zambruno’s late rally. “Liv birdied 17 and I bogeyed 15 so that was enough to play 18. Sometimes it’s hard to win with a lead, but I also know it’s hard to come back when you’re down. So I just figured if I parred 18, that would probably be good enough, perhaps.”

The victory continued a good year for Rogowicz, who in her senior season posted the third-lowest stroke average (73.54) in Penn State program history, and won the prestigious women’s Porter Cup in June. She graduated with a degree in finance and is in no hurry to give professional golf a try.

“I just like playing as an amateur,” she said. “I don’t know that playing professionally is something for me. I play because that’s what I like to do and it’s sort of an outlet for me. I love to play and practice.”