Golf walk-off? It happened Thursday as Topekan topped BV West’s Misemer with epic ace

The wind was light and the sky overcast Thursday morning at the Swope Memorial Golf Course when Julia Misemer stood next to her caddy and cart.

She knew she had some ground to make up to catch her opponent, Rachel Stous, at the Kansas City Women’s Match Play Championship. Stous was five-up through 12 holes, which meant she could win the match by winning this hole, the 13th, but Misemer remained confident.

Then Stous swung back, struck the ball and watched.

The ball sunk into the cup. Hole in one.

Misemer still had a chance to record her own hole in one and prolong the match, but her shot landed on the green, some six feet from the hole.

Match over.

“It’s just kind of like, ‘What do you do?’” said Misemer, an incoming sophomore at Blue Valley West High School. “I knew it was going to be over after that.”

Misemer clinched just one hole, the ninth, in her runner-up finish. She carded a 54, while Stous recorded a 48.

Stous claimed holes Nos. 1, 4, 5, 7, 10, 12 and 13 to secure the 6 and 5 win.

“I knew it was right at it,” Stous said of her hole-in-one. “I was just hoping it was the right distance. I knew I just needed to tie the hole.”

For her part, Misemer saw the bizarre ending as a chance to congratulate Stous.

“I was mostly just excited for her,” Misemer said. “I knew I probably wasn’t going to match it.

“I played not my best today. I played OK yesterday, but today was really not so good for me.”

That capped a largely forgettable outing for Misemer, the fourth seed, but she made waves leading up to the championship match.

She only advanced so far by beating 13th-seeded Samantha Cornelius, 5 and 4, in the Round of 16, fifth-seeded Hannah Thiele, 4 and 3, in the quarterfinals, then ousting top-seeded Isabella Caamal Solis, 3 and 2, in the semifinals.

Really, Misemer entered the tournament with a healthy dose of momentum. In April, she competed in the 2019 Drive, Chip and Putt national championship at the renowned Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, and she won the long drive competition in the 14/15-year-old age division.

She finished tied for fourth overall, logging a total of 17 points: 10 in the drive section, one in the chip and six in the putting.

Moving forward, Misemer has plenty on her plate. She’s trying to qualify for the 2019 PGA Junior Championship, so on Wednesday, she’ll compete in the Midwest section championship at the Heritage Park Golf Course in Olathe.

If she qualifies, she’ll head to Windsor, Connecticut from July 7-12 for that event.

For now, she’s trying to get as much out of her second-place finish at Swope as possible.

“It’s a good learning experience,” Misemer said, “and practice for more match play in the future.”