Dow diamond! Midland's Kimberly Dinh rallies to win USGA championship

Kimberly Dinh didn't spend a lot of time playing from behind this week, and she didn't spend any time playing the 17th or 18th holes. That all changed Thursday.

What didn't change was the result.

Dinh, of Midland, rallied back from an early three-hole defeat Kelsey Chugg, of Salt Lake City, 2-up, to claim the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship at Stonewall in Elverson, Pennsylvania.

The win gives Michigan a third United States Golf Association champion in the last three years, after Canton's James Piot, a Michigan State alum, won the U.S. Amateur in 2021, and after Western Michigan women's golf coach Kim Moore won the inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open in 2022.

"In college, I never really played in any USGA events, mostly because my the time the summer came around, I was burned out and I didn't want to travel," said Dinh, 31, who played collegiately at Wisconsin. "So having an opportunity to compete in a USGA championship after grad school, after college, has been awesome.

"And to win it, just incredible."

For the win, Dinh, a two-time Michigan Women's Mid-Amateur champion and a past Michigan Women's Amateur winner, earns a spot in the next two U.S. Women's Amateur, and the 2024 U.S. Women's Open. She's also exempt into the next 10 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championships.

Dinh had a relatively smooth ride into the 18-hole championship match, but stumbled out of the gate early, as Chugg took a three-hole lead through the first seven holes. Chugg's three-hole advantage remained through 11.

On the 11th, Chugg missed a 6-footer for birdie while Dinh made a 10-footer for par, and the comeback was on.

Dinh won the next three holes to square the match, making a 15-foot birdie putt on the 14th. Chugg, 32, who won othis tournament in 2017, claimed the 15th hole to regain the lead, but Dinh won the last three holes, Nos. 17 and 18 with birdies, to hoist the Mildred Gardiner Prunaret Trophy.

"To lose a couple holes pretty quickly was a little bit frustrating, but I just kind of dug deep and never really panicked," Dinh said. "Kelsey was playing great golf, but both of us were going to make mistakes at some point, so I just kind of had to weather that and keep playing. I said to myself, 'I'll keep putting one good swing on the ball after another and see where it takes me.

"I've learned something every time I've gotten to match play, just every time I've played it, I've gotten more comfortable with it.

"I've learned that even if you get down, to not panic."

Dinh, who also received a gold medal for the victory, is a senior research specialist at Dow in Midland, and earlier this year played in her first LPGA event, the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational.

Mid-Amateur tournaments feature amateur players 25 and older.

tpaul@detroitnews.com

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