By Andy Hemmer
Enquirer Contributor

A few sputters approaching the finish line couldn't keep Lori Eberle from a seventh Northern Kentucky Women's Amateur Golf Championship Thursday.

Eberle bolted to a three-stroke lead after the first seven holes in the 53rd running of the event, at Devou Park Golf Course in Covington.

By the time it was over, Eberle had dropped five birdies en route to a 3-over 73, good enough for a one-point victory over Laura Schild of Lakeside Park in the four-day, 72-hole tourney.

But Eberle didn't forget to bring the drama, either.

After a scorching start, she finished her day with three straight bogies. Eberle also rang up a triple-bogey by splashing one on 8, providing opportunity for the rest of the field - particularly Schild, the medalist and second seed - to catch up.

Unbeknownst to Schild, she tied Eberle at 12. But Schild missed two subsequent birdie putts on 13 and 14, shots that Eberle sank, rounding out her quintet of birdies.

"That one on 13 is going to haunt me for a while, too. At least longer than they usually do," said Schild, of her missed two-foot putt.

Eberle, the 2002 winner, has a record seven titles overall. Three other golfers have five.

"She was hitting everything in sight, fairways, greens, you name it. I didn't think anybody ever really had a shot, but she did make it interesting at the end there," said Todd Houston, Libby Moses' caddy. Moses finished at 79, good for third place.

Outside the Eberle-Schild showdown, Erin O'Connor and Kim Gunning provided some excitement.

Tied after 18, it took O'Connor, an 18-year-old from Gallatin County, two playoff holes to gain the upper hand.

"I had to do it for all the people from back home," O'Connor said.

Eberle's tremendous success as an amateur south of the Ohio River has honed her focus on a new goal: winning the annual Greater Cincinnati Women's Amateur Championship, an event at least twice as large as the Northern Kentucky event that has more players with low handicaps. She's played the Women's Met five times, going as deep as the semifinals.

"It's definitely a tougher field, and it's a challenge, but I feel I need to keep challenging myself," said Eberle, a computer and business teacher from Boone County High School.