Boynton woman wins Palm Beach County Women’s Amateur golf tournament

Boynton Beach’s Terrill Samuel made the most of her debut in the Palm Beach County Women’s Amateur Championship at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens.

Samuel, 62, who splits her time between Boynton Beach and Toronto, fired a three-day total of 11-over par 227 to hold off 16-time champion Susan Cohn, of Palm Beach Gardens, who finished five strokes back. The tournament featured an 87-women field from Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Wellington, Boca Raton and the surrounding areas.

“It was definitely very windy, Samuel said. “You don’t really have a strategy, you just play the course early on, the same way I would. You just want to make sure you don’t get your ball wet. I didn’t do that on 15, but I made a good next shot and that helped because something like that can derail you.”

Samuel had a stellar 2021 campaign as she won the prestigious R&A Women’s Amateur Championship at Royal Dornoch in Ireland as well as the Florida State Women’s Senior Amateur Championship. The tournament was played on Champions Course, the same course used by the Honda Classic.

“There is not much better than Terrill as a golfer and a person,” Cohn said. “It was a pleasure to play with her and watch amazing golf. It’s unfortunate, but I lost to good golf. I personally would have liked to play a little better, but that is golf too.”