Unwin plays through 8-month pregnancy to take 3-shot lead over Horan in Women’s Metro

John Fineran

SOUTH BEND – Lori Horan had a little idea what Selah Unwin was experiencing Monday after the first round of the 96th South Bend Women’s Metro Golf Championship at Erskine Park.

Horan, who won the first of her 23 Women’s Metro titles as 16-year-old Lori Heiden of South Bend Clay in 1979, remembered winning one of them when she was pregnant. So, the cheek-to-cheek hug she gave the eight-month-pregnant Unwin was a special, encouraging one.

It meant a lot to the 19-year-old Unwin, who has a three-stroke lead over Horan after shooting a five-over-par 75 at Erskine with the 54-hole tournament moving Tuesday to Elbel Park for the second round. Rachel Thompson, a long-time competitor in the tournament who has never won but has been a runner-up, was another two shots behind Horan after an opening 80, one stroke ahead of Saint Mary’s head coach Jordan Koehler and Kathleen Cochrane.

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Selah Unwin follows through on her tee shot at the 130-yard 17th hole at Erskine Park Golf Course during Monday's opening round of the South Bend Women's Metro Golf Championships. The 19-year-old Unwin, who is eight months pregnant, shot a five-over 75 to grab a three-stroke lead over 23-time champion Lori Horan.
Selah Unwin follows through on her tee shot at the 130-yard 17th hole at Erskine Park Golf Course during Monday's opening round of the South Bend Women's Metro Golf Championships. The 19-year-old Unwin, who is eight months pregnant, shot a five-over 75 to grab a three-stroke lead over 23-time champion Lori Horan.

After helping her Bethel University women’s team win its second straight NCCAA National Championship at the end of October in Florida while gaining All-America honors, Unwin has been focusing on being a full-time mother.

“My practices lately consist of maybe an hour, an hour and 35 minutes of putting and chipping,” Unwin said. “I haven’t played on a course in a long time.”

Nevertheless, she completed her round of 75 with a birdie 3 at the par-4, 275-yard 18th hole to compete a back-nine 38 which had bogeys at Nos. 11, 13, 15 and 17. Unwin opened her round with bogeys at Nos. 1 and 4 before she birdied the par-5, 361-yard uphill fifth hole and added a bogey on the par-4 seventh.

“I saw a video on YouTube that said I needed to put my belly toward the target,” Unwin said. “That’s my main swing thought. My short game has kind of carried me through. Today I was figuring out my distances because I’ve lost 10-15 yards on each club. I need to write those distances down and place my tee shots in the fairway tomorrow (at Elbel).”

Still, Unwin had 41 putts in her round, two more than Horan.

“From tee to green I hit the ball great,” Horan said after her eight-over round of 78 that included two birdies, five bogeys and two double bogeys. “I had trouble putting again. Thirty-nine putts ... The greens here are not like I remember them. They’re faster. They were much slower and had more grass to them. They’re faster. I can play (on) fast greens. I don’t know if it’s in my head how I play here, so I need to address it.”

Particularly with the final round of the tournament scheduled for Erskine Park Thursday. Horan, who won her last Metro title in 2020 at Erskine Park, took 20 putts to complete her front-side four-over 39 which included bogeys at Nos. 3, 7, 8 and 9. She opened the back nine with a three-putt bogey at the par-5, 442-yard 10th hole and then added a pair of double bogeys at Nos. 16 and 17 in a back-nine 39. Horan’s 19thputt on the back nine fell for a birdie 3 on the closing 275-yard 18th hole. She also birdied the par-3, 168-yard 14th.

Lori Horan, who has 23 Women's Metro championships to her credit, watches her tee shot at Erskine Park's 17th hole during the first round Monday. Horan opened with an eight-over 78 and was three strokes behind leader Selah Unwin with the 54-hole tournament headed to Elbel Park for Tuesday's second round.
Lori Horan, who has 23 Women's Metro championships to her credit, watches her tee shot at Erskine Park's 17th hole during the first round Monday. Horan opened with an eight-over 78 and was three strokes behind leader Selah Unwin with the 54-hole tournament headed to Elbel Park for Tuesday's second round.

Thompson had the best day of all the competitors on the Erskine greens, needing only 32 to complete her round of 80 that included a front-side 38 (three bogeys, six pars) before six bogeys and a double bogey contributed to a back-nine 42.

“I think I hit the ball pretty good at the start,” Thompson said. “I had about five or six putts that just didn’t fall in. I thought I hit the ball pretty well. Elbel is always typically harder for me because I don’t play it often. I just psych myself out, but I love Elbel. And I’m always chasing Lori.”

And now she, Horan and the others are all trying to chase down Unwin.

96TH SOUTH BEND WOMEN’S METRO GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS

Results after Monday’s first round at the par-70, 4,653-yard Erskine Park Golf Course:

75: Selah Unwin 37-38

78: Lori Horan 39-39

80: Rachel Thompson 38-42

81: Jordan Koehler 42-39, Kathleen Cochrane 40-41

83: Jill Daniels 41-42

84: JoAnn Jackson 39-45

92: Heather Swaim 46-46

96: Carolyn Niedbalski 45-51

103: Susan Gombos 54-59

104: Tammy Beiter 50-54

105: Deborah Stout 52-53

DNS: Gillian Lippert

Tuesday tee times

Second-round starting times at the par-72, 5,159-yard Elbel Park Golf Course:

8:30 a.m.: Susan Gombos, Tammy Beiter, Deborah Stout

8:40: JoAnn Jackson, Heather Swaim, Carolyn Niedbalski

8:50: Jordan Koehler, Kathleen Cochrane, Jill Daniels

9 a.m.: Selah Unwin, Lori Horan, Rachel Thompson

First-round starting times for the Junior Girls Metro

9:30 a.m.: Doris Li, Clare Tobin

9:40: Lucy Dunham, Marley Dunham, Celia Florkowski

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Unwin leads Women's Metro Golf Tournament after day one

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