FRANKLIN, Tenn. — Before the first ball was hit in the final match, the last name of the 2024 Tennessee Women’s Match Play was already known. Sisters Lanie and Karlie Campbell were the last two standing in the field. It took 19 holes to decide a winner in the back-and-forth affair, but the eldest, Lanie, came away with the win.
It’s a match-up they’ve played hundreds of times at their home course of Dixie Oaks Golf Club but this time there was some extra hardware on the line between the Campbell sisters.
“I kind of felt like we were just playing at home,” Lanie said after capturing her first Tennessee Golf Association title. “We go out pretty much every single day… and it’s just back and forth every single day.”
That held true during the final match on Thursday as Lanie and Karlie battled it out at Westhaven Golf Club in Franklin. The two traded blows, each winning two of the first four holes before Lanie birdied holes six and seven to get to a two-up lead heading to the back nine.
From there, younger sister Karlie won two holes on 11 and 12 in a row to even the match out before Lanie came back with another string of birdies on 14 and 15 to get back to two up. But the future Kentucky Wildcat got them right back to tie the match headed to 18. In total, the Campbell sisters only tied six of the 19 holes of their match.
A pair of pars on the final hole forced extras, but they only need that hole to decide the winner. Lanie, a rising junior at Middle Tennessee, hit her approach shot to six inches to put the pressure on her younger sister. Karlie’s long birdie putt to tie the hole didn’t fall, sealing the victory for Lanie.
“Competition is good, I think, especially with sisters,” Lanie said. “It’s friendly, sisterly, loving competition, but it definitely drives you.”
The competition outside of the Campbell sisters was equally as strong. Kynadie Adams reached the semifinals for the second straight year with that semifinal match against eventual champion Lanie Campbell needing 23 holes to decide a winner. It was the first time Adams had played past the 15th hole after winning all of her matches in pool play and quarterfinals 4 & 3 or better.
On the other side of the bracket, Karlie Campbell’s competition in the semis came from Memphis native and rising sophomore at Notre Dame Anna Heck. Heck earned her spot in bracket play by being one of the three top point earners who didn’t win their pool. Her quarterfinal match against Franklin’s Ava Bankston went the distance, winning 2 up against the Rhodes College freshman.
