Steinhagen, 18, the medalist and top seed, got past Portsmouth’s Cindy Morris, 1 up in the quarterfinals, before besting 15-year-old Ju-Hee Bae of Fairfax, 2 and 1 in the afternoon session. Greenlief, 19, a rising junior at the University of Virginia, registered a pair of 3 and 2 victories, ousting two fellow collegians in William & Mary senior Katie Murphy (Chesapeake) in the morning and University of South Carolina sophomore Meredith Swanson (Roanoke) in the semifinals.

In advancing to the finals for a second consecutive year, Greenlief (pictured right) shot the stroke-play equivalent of two under par for a third straight match, a trend that dates back to her opening round 6 and 5 victory over central Virginian Hunter Ross (Manakin-Sabot).

After an admittedly so-so performance in shooting 3-over 75 in stroke-play qualifying, the sixth-seeded Greenlief has yet to trail in any of her three matches and was 3 up after nine in the afternoon session against Swanson.

Greenlief fell to her U.Va. teammate Whitney Neuhauser in a 20-hole thriller at last year VSGA Women’s Amateur at Danville Golf Club. She savors a return the finals’ stage as well as the dynamics and inherent uncertainties that accompany match play.

“I really, really like pressure,” Greenlief says. “I like the adrenaline because I feel like I always hit the ball solidly when I’m under pressure and it makes golf exciting. And I love match play because you get to go out and play against someone and it’s competitive. I’m a really competitive person. [Match play] is my favorite format.”

Greenlief made the U.Va. women’s golf team as a walk-on and rebuilt her entire swing as a newcomer and the results, forged through determination and hard work, have been readily apparent. She repeated as the Virginias Women’s Stroke Play Championship in mid-June, and is looking to become the first player to hold the Women’s Stroke Play and Women’s Am titles in the same year since Vikki Valentine of Virginia Beach claimed victories in both events in 1991. She appeared in nine events as a Cavalier during the 2009-10 campaign and was fourth among team stroke average leaders.   

“I want to see how far I can go. I started as a walk-on and I’d like to finish as an All-American or at least be the best college player that I could be. I’ve tried to keep improving every year,” says Greenlief, who also excels in the classroom. She is a math and economics double-major at U.Va., and will graduate a year early next May. “My game keeps getting better, so I am excited for the future.

“I’d really love to go out and win [Friday] and take home this title. I’ve won the Stroke Play twice and I’d like to add the Am in as well.”

Always a consistent ball-striker, Steinhagen has used timely short-game play to navigate her way through match play. Owner of a 1-up lead in the morning against Morris, she made a 20-foot left-to-right breaking putt at the 18th hole to close the match. She then took control of an all-square encounter in the late stages against Bae by holing back-to-back par putts inside three-and-a-half feet at Nos. 15 and 16 for wins. Domrie-2 headed to the par-4 17th hole, Steinhagen closed the match by draining a downhill never-shredding 4 footer for par.

A May graduate of Oakton High School, Steinhagen has shown few ill-effects from more than a month-long layoff, a time she used to regroup after struggling in a couple of events this spring. The Women’s Amateur signals her first event since returning.

“I just didn’t feel mentally ready to get back out and compete in championships and win because I didn’t think I was ready,” Steinhagen says of the break from competitive golf. “I didn’t want to go to a tournament thinking I wasn’t able to win it, because I don’t want to give anything less than 100 percent.”

The strategy has proven prophetic; she shot 2-under 70 to earn low qualifying honors from stroke play. After winning three matches, Steinhagen has made inroads in erasing the memories of last year’s second round loss to fellow northern Virginian Sara Hurwitch in her debut appearance in the Women’s Am.

Steinhagen finished second to Greenlief at the ’09 Women’s Stroke Play and owns a host of high finishes in VSGA events. A deciding victory, says Steinhagen, who is headed to Longwood University in the fall on a golf scholarship, “would be huge. This would mean a whole bunch and give me a huge confidence-booster going into the rest of the summer.”     

The two finalists are likely familiar with one another’s game. They’ve met in club championship events at International Country Club in Fairfax.

The championship match is set to begin at 8:50 a.m.    

KESWICK –– Results from  quarterfinal and semifinal round matches and starting times for championship matches at the 85th VSGA Women’s Amateur Championship at Glenmore Country Club (5,808 yards, par 36-36—72) on Thursday, July 8 and Friday, July 9 (stroke play qualifying score indicated).

CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT QUARTERFINAL RESULTS

(1) Amanda Steinhagen (Oak Hill), 70 def. (9) Cindy Morris (Portsmouth), 75, 1 up

(4) Ju-Hee Bae (Fairfax), 72 def. (5) Elizabeth Brightwell (Nellysford), 72, 2 and 1

(2) Meredith Swanson (Roanoke), 71 def. (7) Amanda Diamond (Leesburg), 75, 4 and 3

(6) Lauren Greenlief (Oakton), 75 def. (3) Katie Murphy (Chesapeake), 71, 3 and 2

CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT SEMIFINAL RESULTS

(1) Amanda Steinhagen (Oak Hill), 70 def. (4) Ju-Hee Bae (Fairfax), 72, 2 and 1

(6) Lauren Greenlief (Oakton), 75 def. (2) Meredith Swanson (Roanoke), 71, 3 and 2

CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT FINAL DAY PAIRING (Friday, July 9)

8:50 a.m.: (1) Amanda Steinhagen (Oak Hill), 70 vs. (6) Lauren Greenlief (Oakton), 75

CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT CONSOLATION QUARTERFINAL RESULTS

(16) Elizabeth Bose (Norfolk), 79 def. (8) Sarah Wilkinson (Charlottesville), 75, 5 and 3

(13) Cyndi Carlson (Chesapeake), 77 def. (12) Whitney Neuhauser (Barboursville), 76, 1 up

(10) Lauren Coughlin (Chesapeake), 75 def. (15) Lauren Eklund (Charlottesville), 78, 6 and 5

(11) Hunter Ross (Manakin-Sabot), 75 def. (14) Joanne Kitusky (Glen Allen), 78, 3 and 2

CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT CONSOLATION SEMIFINAL RESULTS

(16) Elizabeth Bose (Norfolk), 79 def. (13) Cyndi Carlson (Chesapeake), 77, 3 and 2

(10) Lauren Coughlin (Chesapeake), 75 def. (11) Hunter Ross (Manakin-Sabot), 75, 1 up

CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT CONSOLATION FINAL DAY PAIRING (Friday, July 9)

8:32 a.m.: (16) Elizabeth Bose (Norfolk), 79 vs. (10) Lauren Coughlin (Chesapeake), 75

FIRST FLIGHT QUARTERFINAL RESULTS

(1) Lyberty Anderson (Chesterfield), 79 def. (8) Lindsay Wortham (Richmond), 81, 5 and 4

(5) Kristine Rohrbaugh (Richmond), 79 def. (4) Shelley Savage (Alexandria), 79, 3 and 2

(15) Sophia Montenegro (Oakton), 85 def. (10) Whitney Rhodes (Staunton), 81, 5 and 4

(11) Mimi Hoffman (Springfield), 82 def. (14) Kayleigh Reed (Virginia Beach), 85, 19 holes

FIRST FLIGHT SEMIFINAL RESULTS

(5) Kristine Rohrbaugh (Richmond), 79 def. (1) Lyberty Anderson (Chesterfield), 79, 2 and 1

(11) Mimi Hoffman (Springfield), 82 def. (15) Sophia Montenegro (Oakton), 85, 1 up

FIRST FLIGHT FINAL DAY PAIRING (Friday, July 9)

8:24 a.m.: (5) Kristine Rohrbaugh (Richmond), 79 vs. (11) Mimi Hoffman (Springfield), 82  

FIRST FLIGHT CONSOLATION QUARTERFINAL RESULTS

(9) Stephanie Eybers (Haymarket), 81 def. (16) Sandy Schuler (Newport News), 88, 20 holes

(13) Katherine Connell (Midlothian), 85 def. (12) Cindy Thompson (Keswick), 83, 2 up

(7) Kerry Johnson (Chesapeake), 80 def. (2) Boodie McGurn (Richmond), 79, 4 and 2

(3) Hannah Pierce (King George), 79 def. (6) Kelly McAnally (Virginia Beach), 80, 4 and 3

FIRST FLIGHT CONSOLATION SEMIFINAL RESULTS

(9) Stephanie Eybers (Haymarket), 81 def. (13) Katherine Connell (Midlothian), 85, 2 up

(3) Hannah Pierce (King George), 79 def. (7) Kerry Johnson (Chesapeake), 80 7 and 6

FIRST FLIGHT CONSOLATION FINAL DAY PAIRING (Friday, July 9)

(3) Hannah Pierce (King George), 79 def. (9) Stephanie Eybers (Haymarket), 81, by default

SECOND FLIGHT QUARTERFINAL RESULTS

(9) Keri Muse (Sterling), 92 def. (16) Shaletha Moran (Virginia Beach), 116, 8 and 6

(5) Margaret McGehee (Richmond), 83 def. (4) Sara Cole (Salem), 82, 1 up

(2) Cindy Hollingshead (Manakin-Sabot), 81 def. (7) Courtney Wynne (Glen Allen), 85, 1 up

(3) Lauren Kruszewski (Chesapeake), 81 def. (11) Caryn Cobb (Norfolk), 94, 5 and 3

SECOND FLIGHT SEMIFINAL RESULTS

(5) Margaret McGehee (Richmond), 83 def. (9) Keri Muse (Sterling), 92, 4 and 3

(2) Cindy Hollingshead (Manakin-Sabot), 81 def. (3) Lauren Kruszewski (Chesapeake), 81, 21 holes

SECOND FLIGHT FINAL DAY PAIRING (Friday, July 9)

8:08 a.m.: (5) Margaret McGehee (Richmond), 83 vs. (2) Cindy Hollingshead (Manakin-Sabot), 81

SECOND FLIGHT CONSOLATION QUARTERFINAL RESULTS

(8) Rebecca Compton (South Riding), 89 –Bye–

(12) Rachel Nicholson (Danville), 95 def. (13) Jill Foley (Leesburg), 96, 3 and 2

(10) Chellie Mitchell (Keswick), 93 def. (15) Mikie Flanigan (Richmond), 103, 1 up

(6) Angela Baskette (Arlington), 84 def. (14) Nina Gonzalez (Fredericksburg), 98, 4 and 3

SECOND FLIGHT CONSOLATION SEMIFINAL RESULTS

(8) Rebecca Compton (South Riding), 89 def. (12) Rachel Nicholson (Danville), 95, 2 and 1

(6) Angela Baskette (Arlington), 84 def. (10) Chellie Mitchell (Keswick), 93, 4 and 3

SECOND FLIGHT CONSOLATION FINAL DAY PAIRING (Friday, July 9)

8 a.m.: (8) Rebecca Compton (South Riding), 89 vs. (6) Angela Baskette (Arlington), 84

THIRD FLIGHT/THIRD FLIGHT CONSOLATION

Marilyn Bussey (Roanoke) won the third flight with a cumulative point total of 45½  points. Charlottesville’s Mary Kay Kotelec was the runner-up with 30½ points, and Kitty Alderson (Sutherlin) was the third flight consolation winner with 32 points.