Lori Castillo

Miss Lori Castillo, 18, of Honolulu, defeated Becky Pearson, of Miami, Fla., 2 up, in the final played at the Braemar Golf Course, Edina, Minn. Miss Castillo joined a very select group. Only three other players-Charles (Chick) Evans, Jr., Bob Jones, and Jack Nicklaus-have held two USGA Championships simultaneously. She was also the Girl's Junior Champion.

She was not only the first woman player to hold concurrent titles, but also the youngest player, at 18 years, nine months, and 16 days old. Kelly Fuiks, the defending champion, and Lauri Merten, both of Phoenix, Ariz., were the co-medalists with 6-over-par scores of 152. Both, however, lost their first-round matches. Miss Castillo's first two matches were very close. She had to win the 18th hole in her first match against Miss Lea Larson to square the match, and she eventually won the 20th hole. She defeated Nicki Reuterfeldt, 1 up, in the second round.

In her quarter-final match, she played even-par golf to defeat Lenore Muraoka, 4 and 2; was five under par in defeating Lois Drafke, 4 and 3; was one under par in defeating Cherly Wilson, 7 and 6, in the quarter-finals; and defeated Marianne Huning, 4 and 3, in the semi-finals. In the final, Miss Castillo went 1 up three times in the first 10 holes, but three times Miss Pearson came back to even the match. Miss Castillo won the 11th and 12th holes to go 2 up, but Miss Pearson won the 13th and 14th to even the match again.

Miss Castillo won the 17th hole with a 15 foot putt for a birdie 2 and then won the 18th hole with a par. Winners of the Team Trophy were Sarah LeVeque, Becky Beach, and Lois Drafke, of Chicago, Ill., with a 36-hole team total of 461, 11 strokes better than the team from Phoenix, Ariz. A record 695 entries were received, exceeding the previous high of 686 for the inaugural WAPL Championship in 1977.