ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, July 27, 1996 TAG: 9607290030
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: HOT SPRINGS
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
The state's best women golfers have known for a while that Lee Shirley was coming.
Well, the 20-year-old Salem hotshot arrived Friday in the final of the Virginia State Golf Association Women's State Amateur.
With a steady, workman-like performance usually reserved for the more experienced golfers, Shirley won the biggest prize of her young career, whipping Maggie Balch of Richmond 4 and 3 on the Cascades course.
``We've all known that Lee has been knocking on the door for a while,'' Balch said. ``Well, I think you can say now that she's knocked the door down.''
After becoming the first Roanoke Valley player since Liz Waynick in 1981 to win the Amateur, Shirley still had a hard time believing what had transpired in the past five days.
``All this is a real surprise to me,'' she said. ``I didn't have an easy match all week.
``I never thought I'd win. My parents must not have thought I'd win, either. They put me up at The Homestead [hotel]. As expensive as that place is, I'm sure they never thought I'd be staying all week.''
She stayed, all right. For the duration.
Balch, a 41-year-old insurance agent, could have used some kind of policy Friday. Shirley went 1-up on the third hole and never trailed. Balch won only one hole - the 14th, where Shirley three-putted - the entire day.
Shirley, a rising junior on the University of North Carolina golf team, methodically wore down her older opponent with uncanny shotmaking when she needed it.
The key holes in the match were Nos.9 and 10. Shirley got up and down for par with a brilliant chip on No.9 to steal the hole from Balch and go 2 up. At No.10, Balch appeared to be in control until Shirley got up and down from 100 yards for a halving par.
Shirley extended the lead to 4-up when Balch bogeyed Nos.11 and 13. After Balch won the 14th, Shirley ended the match on the par-3 15th, getting up and down from 75 feet from a sand trap.
``That was an All-American sand shot she hit,'' Balch said of Shirley's blast that sucked up 2 feet from the hole.
``She hit the shots when she had to. I didn't. She deserves to win. It's that simple.''
Shirley, a three-time State Junior champion (1990-93), said the victory was ``her most important accomplishment in golf.''
``This is not an easy tournament to win,'' said Shirley, who plays out of Roanoke's Hunting Hills Country Club. ``First, you're here forever. I've never played so much golf in my life as the past few days. Plus, it's good competition. There are a lot of good players in this field.''
Shirley, who will play in her second U.S. Amateur from Aug.5-10 in Lincoln, Neb., had it going all week. She lapped the field by seven shots in Monday's qualifier, shooting a career-low 72 on the tough mountain layout.
``It's been a dream week,'' Shirley said. ``It's been a long week, but, yeah, it was fun.''
Balch believes the fun is far from over for Shirley.
``I'm sure this is not the last we've seen of her,'' Balch said. ``She's going to be around for a while, fellows.''
LENGTH: Medium: 68 linesby CNB