Island Resort Championship Grows One Name Longer

Ssu-Chia Cheng added her name to the winner’s list of the Island Resort Championship presented by Delta County Area Chamber of Commerce in late June. The Taiwan native earned her second career victory shooting a total of 17-under par, winning the tournament by six strokes.

“It definitely feels amazing to be winning a tournament, to be able to play some good golf out there under stress and all the expectations from everybody and even myself,” said Cheng. “I was struggling with mental issues bothering me for the past few years, so this was a little step for me, and I’m definitely happy and feeling great.” 

Cheng started her round strong with an eagle on No. 1 and kept her eyes on the prize, firing off five birdies throughout her final round of the 54-hole Epson Tour event. 

 “I was playing pretty aggressive,” said Cheng. “I was trying to do my best out there, and I didn’t want to be holding back. That’s not good for me and not good for the game.”

She says she was feeling mentally tired around Nos. 16 and 17, which happened to be right after consecutive birdies on Nos. 15 and 16. Her plan stayed the same throughout all three rounds - stay away from the rough.

“I was really focused on my game plan,” said Cheng. “You don’t want to mess with all of the rough out here, so I was trying to hit as many fairways and greens as possible.”

Six strokes behind Cheng, in second place, was Jiwon Jeon. The Korean carded four birdies in the final round to sign for a 2-under 70, despite the wind. 

Haylee Harford, Michaela Finn, Clariss Guce and Emilee Hoffman shared third place at -10. Harford had the low round of the day at 6-under par, carding five birdies and an eagle on the round. Finn, Guce and Hoffman also recorded under-par rounds.

The tournament hosted each year at the National award-winning Sweetgrass Golf Club raised another $20,000 for the YMCA strong kids’ campaign.  Around $25,000 went directly to non-profits that sell the spectator tickets. A rain delay on Friday hampered some fan participation, but in all about 4,500 attended on the weekend.