By Warren P. Ryan

WAYZATA, MINN.  -- At the beginning of the summer, former Drake women's golf standout Olivia Lansing set a goal for herself.

She wanted to win all four of the biggest prizes in Minnesota women's amateur golf: the State Publinx Match Play, the State Publinx Stroke Play, the Minnesota Women's Golf Association Match Play, and the Minnesota Women's State Amateur.

It was an ambitious goal.

The Publinx Match Play tournament hasn't been around all that long. It was first played in 2005. So it isn't surprising that no one had ever claimed all four titles in the same year, considering that there had only been five previous years during which time the complete set existed.

But no woman had ever won as many as three of the tournaments in the same year, either -- until this year.

Lansing achieved her goal -- and completed what could be called the Minnesota Am Slam -- with a victory in the Women's State Amateur Championship last Wednesday (Aug. 18) at Woodhill. She put an exclamation point on the triumph by producing a final round of 1-under-par 71 and finishing six strokes clear of the field.

The 2010 MGA Women's Player of the Year (the golf season isn't over yet, but Lansing now has an insurmountable lead in the points race) posted a 54-hole aggregate of 223 (77-75-71).

It was her second Women's State Am title in a row, following a second-place finish in 2008.

"This was the best I played all week, by a mile," said Lansing, who won the Missouri Valley Conference individual medalist title in 2008 and 2010, competing for Drake.

Having hit 11 greens in regulation during each of the first two rounds, she hit 15 on Wednesday. The 71 was the best score of the tournament, and she made it look easy. After making two birdies and two bogeys in the first seven holes, she made 10 pars and a birdie over her last 11 holes and hardly ever had to make a par putt of more than about 10 or 12 inches.

"She was very impressive," said Michele Edlin, who played with Lansing and tied for second place.

Edlin, the 36-hole leader, made a couple of double bogeys early and couldn't get any birdie putts to fall later on, closed with a 78, which put her at 229. The other player who finished at that number was Maggie Leland, the long-hitting state Class AAA high school champion from Alexandria. Leland shot 75 on Wednesday.

"I guess I'm happy with second place, considering that I've hardly played this summer," said Leland, who will be starting her freshman year at Augustana shortly. "I've been working 40 hours a week (as a nanny), and that doesn't leave much time for golf. About the only time I can play is at night. I wasted a lot of shots from 100 yards in this week, and normally that's one of the best parts of my game. It certainly wasn't the last three days, but when you're not playing you can't expect to be all that sharp. Besides, Olivia played really well, and I'm not sure anyone could have beaten her this week."
 
Lansing came into the summer golf season with considerable momentum. She had won four tournaments during the last three months of the college season, which raised her career total for the four years she played for Drake University to nine.

So when she began working out her schedule for June, July and August, she set her sights high.

In 2008, she had won both of the Minnesota Women's Public Golf Association's two major events -- the Match Play and Stroke Play tournaments. She wanted to do that again, and also tack on titles in the two big MWGA events -- the Match Play and the State Am.

"I thought it would be great to win all four," she recalled. "I was thinking that it would be like a Minnesota Amateur Grand Slam. I really wanted to try to do that."

Lansing couldn't have gotten off to a better start in her quest for the Big Four. She shot 31 on the front nine at Brookview Golf Course in the first round of the Publinx Match Play, and eventually defeated Klasse in 21 holes in the championship match. (That was exactly the same result as in 2008, when Lansing beat Leigh Klasse in a 21-hole final at Phalen.)

Next came the Publinx Stroke Play. Trailing Kristen Wagner's 67 by five strokes after the first round, she stormed back with a 68 in the second and won by three with a 140 (4 under).

The MWGA Match Play tournament at Baker National started the next day, and Lansing tied another college player Mary Narzisi, soon to be a senior at Minnesota, for medalist honors. Both shot 74's in the 18-hole qualifying.

Three days later, they met in the championship match. Lansing played 15 holes in 3 under and won 4&3.

By winning the Match Play crown, Lansing became the first player to claim three of the Big Four in a single year. Before that, the only players to have won two of the four were Lansing in '08 (Publinx Match Play and Publinx Stroke Play), Klasse in '06 (Publinx Match Play and Publinx Stroke Play), Amy Schmucker in '06 (MWGA Match Play and State Am).

Claudia Pilot, the seven-time MGA Women's Player of the Year, won both the Publinx Stroke Play and the MWGA State Am in 1999, six years before the advent of the Publinx Match Play tournament. And if you go back beyond that, it's another 15 years until you find anyone winning two majors in the same year. That was Nancy Harris (now Blanchard) in '84 (MWGA Match Play and State Am).   

In her spare time this summer, when she wasn't working on the Am Slam, Lansing won the MGA Mixed Team Championship with fellow Drake senior-to-be Ben Freeman, made it to the quarterfinals of the British Women's Amateur and qualified for the U.S. Women's Amateur.

(Olivia's younger sister Natalie, a former state high school champion who is going into her sophomore year at Lehigh, also collected a state title this summer. She won the MWGA Four-Ball Championship with partner Natalie Samb, a sophomore-to-be at Wichita State.)

The only Minnesota tournament that Lansing played in this summer and didn't win was the State Open, at Deer Run. There she finished fourth, behind the winner, Karla Murra, an amateur from Sioux Falls, and two pros, Rachael Schmidt and Julie Hennessy, who tied for second.

Lansing's Am Slam is unprecedented.

"I couldn't have asked for a better summer," Lansing said. "This has been great."

She has one more tournament remaining, the Canadian Women's Open, which she will try to qualify for next week, and then she will enter the real world when she starts her new job on Sept. 1.

"I can't really say what company it is, because I haven't signed all the papers and forms that need to be signed," she explained. "Basically, what I'll be doing is design work. I'm excited about it, because it's going to be a new chapter of my life. But I will also definitely feel sad to see this summer end."      
Kelly Godwin, Lansing's former teammate at Drake and the runner-up to Lansing in this tournament last year, shot a closing 74, which gave her an overall 231 and sole possession of seventh place.

It was another three strokes back to the threesome in eighth: first-round leader Anna Laorr, the State Junior Girls champ, who will be a senior at Breck this fall; Augustana sophomore-to-be Emily Kvidera, a Division II All-American; and Ashli Helstrom, who will be a sophomore at Montana.

39th Minnesota Women's State Amateur Championship
At Woodhill Country Club
Par 72, 6,026 yards
Wayzata
Final results
Championship Flight

Olivia Lansing, White Bear YC 77-75-71 223
Michele Edlin, Jackson GC 78-73-78 229
Maggie Leland, Alexandria GC 79-75-75 229
Leigh Klasse, Keller GC 78-78-74 230
Mary Sweeney, Hillcrest GC 81-74-75 230
Samantha Sommers, Wapicada GC77-75-78 230
Kelly Godwin, Forest Hills GC 79-78-74 231
Emily Kvidera, Victory Links GC 80-79-75 234
Anna Laorr, Hazeltine Nat GC 76-79-79 234
Ashli Helstrom, Mesaba CC 78-78-78 234
Celia Kuenster, Somerset CC 81-78-76 235
Mary Narzisi, University GC 79-80-77 236
Steffi Neisen, New Prague GC 82-75-79 236
Becca Swords, Baker National GC 84-81-72 237
Amy Schintz, Lester Park GC 84-78-75 237
Cassie Deeg, Forest Hills GC 78-81-78 237
Chelsey Falk, Minnewaska GC 81-76-81 238
Katie Bolling, Hillcrest GC 83-78-80 241
Kristen Wagner, Baker Nat GC 83-81-77 241
Laura Petterson, Willingers GC 87-75-79 241
Kathleen Ritter, Red Wing GC 83-79-80 242
Lili McMillan, Woodhill CC 84-80-79 243
Claudia Pilot, Austin CC 85-83-76 244
Allie Ostrander, Minnewaska GC 83-79-83 245
Brenda Williams, Windsong Farm 84-82-81 247
Aubrie Nelson, Braemar GC 84-85-78 247
Molly Noser, Northern Hills GC 89-77-82 248
Jennifer Benoy, Chisago Lakes GC 83-84-84 251
Kelsie Passolt, Victory Links GC 84-82-85 251
Samantha Bergmann, North Links 86-78-87 251
Catherine Wagner, River Oaks GC 83-87-81 251
Leah Grozdanich, Eagle Ridge GC 87-78-87 252
Katie Maurer, Chisago Lakes GC 90-83-80 253
Natalie Lansing, White Bear YC 88-80-86 254
McKenzie Neisen, New Prague GC 89-80-85 254
Paige Menze, Village Green GC 83-87-84 254
M. Duellman-Joly, Chisago Lakes 90-85-80 255
Alison Hurley, MN Valley CC 87-82-87 256
Amber Houser, Montgomery GC 85-85-86 256
Amanda Woodhull, Alexandria GC 84-88-84 256
Taylor Drenttel, Southview CC 88-86-83 257
Anne Zahn, Windsong Farm 86-87-85 258
Hailey Boner, Southview CC 92-80-89 261
Kourtney Williams, Pebble Creek GC94-84-83 261
Hillary Gerster, Bunker Hills GC 88-82-92 262
Lisa Moline, Northland CC 87-86-89 262
Taylor Post, Hazeltine Natl GC 95-83-84 262
Kaytie Spangler, Minikahda Club 97-81-84 262
Molly Erickson, MN Valley 92-88-82 262
Ally Alm, Valley View GC 88-89-87 264
Afton Pender, Pokegama GC 91-89-85 265
Megan Grozdanich, Eagle Ridge GC97-85-86 268
Tiffany Gretsch, Albany GC 98-84-87 269
Maxine Carlson, Geneva GC 90-95-84 269

Holly Karkela, Perham Lakeside GC92-91-90 273
Michelle Narveson, Cedar Valley GC96-83-93 272
Molly Leland, Alexandria GC 95-87-93 275
Taylor Hoag, MN Valley CC 92-94-91 277
Eryn Olson, Dwan GC 95-92-92 279
Taylor Auman, Links at Northfork 94-94-91 279
Jennifer Miller, Cedar Valley GC 95-92-WD