MILTON, GEORGIA, April 30, 2017 - Nanna Koerstz Madsen (Copenhagen, Denmark), who was No. 79 in the world according to the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings at the start of the week, won the duel with Mariah Stackhouse (Riverdale, Georgia) to claim her first Epson Tour victory on Sunday at the Epson Classic. Koerstz Madsen posted a 4-under, 68 at Atlanta National Golf Club to come from two shots back to win by two shots. Daniela Darquea (Quito, Ecuador) shared second place with Stackhouse, who turned in an even-par, 72 on the final day.
Koerstz Madsen earns the first-place payout of $22,500 and moves from 17th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list to third through six events. She has earned $30,325 in just four starts. Koerstz Madsen has finished inside the top 15 in all four starts.
“I’m feeling very good right now, it feels great to win,” said Koerstz Madsen. “I didn’t actually play very well at the start, but after hole five I made four birdies in a row and things changed.”
Koerstz Madsen started with three pars and then caught fire. She made five birdies over the final six holes on the front nine to catch and pass Stackhouse at the turn by one shot. Stackhouse proceeded to make birdie on 10 and then the back-and-forth duel began. Koerstz Madsen three-putted 11 to hand Stackhouse a one shot lead, which she held until a bogey on 14 evened the score. Stackhouse made costly bogeys on 16 and 17 while Koerstz Madsen made par on both.
“The back nine was a bit tough today,” said Koerstz Madsen. “The wind picked up and on 14,16 and 17 it was just good to make par. You won a shot on the field if you made par and I was able to do that.”
Darquea made six birdies on the day and just one bogey to close with a 5-under, 67 to get in the clubhouse at 9-under. Koerstz Madsen stood at 10-under on the 18th tee and Stackhouse was at 8-under. Both made easy two-putt birdies on the last.
“After I hit my approach shot, a few people said congratulations so I figured I just needed to two putt,” explained Koerstz Madsen. “I knew I’d be fine so that was comforting.”
Koerstz Madsen made a three-foot birdie on the last and was doused with water by Hannah Green, who won last week at the Sara Bay Classic. The two were staying together with a local host family near the course.
Koerstz Madsen, 22, has had a lifetime worth of achievements in the last 12 months. She won on the Ladies European Tour (LET) in June in the Czech Republic and represented Denmark at the 2016 Olympic Games. Her only misstep last year was failing to advance out of Stage II of LPGA Qualifying Tournament. She wasn’t originially in the next Epson Tour event (Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic) because of her low status to the start the year, but she will move into Priority C (winner of an official Epson Tour tournament).
“My big goal is to get my card for the LPGA this year so this is obviously a really good start for that,” said Koerstz Madsen. “This is really good for my confidence heading into the next couple of tournaments.”
Koerstz Madsen played really well as an amateur in 2014 and decided to turn professional. She was the LET Rookie of the year in 2015 and finished sixth on the Order of Merit in 2016.
“I always knew I wanted to play on the LPGA because if I wanted to a pro, I wanted to be one of the best,” said Koerstz Madsen. “LPGA is the only way to get to the top of the world rankings.”
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