Claudia Pilot couldn’t have picked a better time to get on a hot streak.

Friday, August 06, 1999

Claudia Pilot couldn’t have picked a better time to get on a hot streak.

The Austin High boys’ golf coach continued to play to some of her best golf this summer as she came from five strokes behind to capture her first state amateur title Thursday at Edinburgh USA in Brooklyn Park.

Pilot shot a 1-under par 71 in the final round of the 28th annual Minnesota Women’s State Amateur Championship. She finished with a three-day total of 219.

She entered the day trailing Katie Brenny of Little Falls by two strokes, and trailed by five after the first four holes. Pilot shot three-under par on the final 10 holes to edge Julia Kalina-Jensen by three strokes.

"It’s incredible," Pilot said Friday morning before leaving to go play in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at the Biltmore Country Club in Ashville, N.C. "It’s finally sinking in. Wow."

Pilot’s previous best finish at the state amateur tournament came last year when she finished 11th.

Pilot’s win comes after finishing second in two national amateur tournaments earlier this summer. Both times she finished second, she was beat by members of the Curtis Cup, the top women’s amateur golf team. Even more impressive was that one of the second-place finishes came against Kelly Booth, the No. 1 ranked women’s amateur player in the world.

Pilot qualified for the national amateur tournament at a qualifier two weeks ago. This will be the third time she has made it to the national tournament. Pilot failed to make it past the initial cut In her previous trips, but is confidant with the way she has been playing of late.

"My short game has improved and I’ve been working with a really good golf coach from Lacrosse," she said. "This is definitely the best I’ve been playing all year."