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Post by philknj on Jul 5, 2021 17:25:39 GMT
This is an early placeholder, but I'm pumped because I'll be there. It's August 2 thru 8 at Westchester CC (West Course) in Rye, NY. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the plan is to be there the best two days of the tournament: Tuesday (2nd day of medal qualifying) and Wednesday (32 matches) ... oh, and don't forget the inevitable playoff on Tuesday that sometimes bleeds into Wednesday. It'll be my third USWA trip, in addition to 2003 & 2016. It's hard to see how this one can top Rolling Green GC five years ago with Muni, Ex-Cyborg and the Ice Cream Princess ... but maybe I'll be surprised.
This will be my third trip to WCC, in addition 1993 (PGA Tour - Saturday round) and 2015 (KPMG LPGA - Friday round). It's free admission and I hope the roping is minimal. I assume it will be the usual off-site parking at a corporate lot, but nothing has been posted about it yet. I recently learned that the NY Thruway and Tappan Zee Bridge went cashless since I last traveled them. I'm not getting EZ Pass for this trip, as I almost never use toll roads ... they can bill by mail or pay online afterward.
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These are the current exempt players ... and the finalists from the 2021 Girls' Junior will be added if they're not in already:
Alyaa Abdulghany (2020 U.S. Women's Amateur semifinalist)
Ho Yu An (Top 25 points leader in Women's World Amateur Golf Ranking)
Savannah Barber (2021 U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball champion)
Allisen Corpuz (Top 25 points leader in Women's World Amateur Golf Ranking)
Megha Ganne (2019 U.S. Women's Amateur semifinalist; Completed 72 holes in 2021 U.S. Women's Open)
Rachel Heck (Completed 72 holes in 2021 U.S. Women's Open; 2021 NCAA Division I individual champion; Top 25 points leader in Women's Amateur Golf Ranking)
Yu-Chiang Hu (Top 25 points leader in Women's Amateur Golf Ranking)
Tsubasa Kajitani (2021 Augusta National Women's Amateur champion; Top 25 points leader in Women's World Amateur Golf Ranking)
Gurleen Kaur (Completed 72 holes in 2021 U.S. Women's Open)
Ina Kim-Schaad (2019 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur champion)
Aline Krauter (2020 champion of The Women's Amateur Championship)
Rachel Kuehn (Top 25 points leader in Women's World Amateur Golf Ranking)
Shannon McWilliam (Playing member of 2018 Great Britain & Ireland Curtis Cup Team)
Emilia Migliaccio (2020 U.S. Women's Amateur quarterfinalist; Top 25 points leader in Women's World Amateur Golf Ranking)
Alessia Nobilio (Top 25 points leader in Women's Amateur Golf Ranking)
Valery Plata (2020 U.S. Women's Amateur semifinalist)
Alexa Saldana (2021 U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball champion)
Paula Schultz-Hanssen (2020 European Women's Amateur champion; Top 25 points leader in Women's World Amateur Golf Ranking)
Riley Smyth (2020 U.S. Women's Amateur quarterfinalist)
Emma Spitz (Top 25 points leader in Women's World Amateur Golf Ranking)
Kennedy Swann (2020 U.S. Women's Amateur quarterfinalist)
Kaleigh Telfer (2020 U.S. Women's Amateur quarterfinalist)
Lara Tennant (2019 U.S. Senior Women's Amateur champion)
Emily Toy (2019 winner of The Women's Amateur Championship)
Lei Ye (Top 25 points leader in Women's World Amateur Golf Ranking)
Rose Zhang (2020 U.S. Women's Amateur champion; Top 25 points leader in Women's World Amateur Golf Ranking)
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Qualifying will be over in about ten days, more on that later.
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Post by philknj on Jul 8, 2021 4:32:42 GMT
Northwestern U. will have at least one player there, Kelly Sim (left), who shot 68 in Harvard, Ill on Wednesday to qualify. I am adding her to my MUST SEE AGAIN list ... I wonder if she is still gaming Epon irons. Before Megha Ganne, Kelly was NJ's hotshot girls junior player.
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Post by philknj on Jul 15, 2021 17:16:31 GMT
The last two qualifiers are being played today.
Tenafly, NJ
Knickerbocker CC ... Donald Ross ... 1914 ... never been there before ... so, why I didn't I go?! I had scheduled other plans today, but I hope I have another chance down the road ... the only rub is that it's a hike to get there.
They're taking four plus two from this field and I assumed that Ami Gianchandani (aka The Yale Librarian) was a lock to get a spot, but it's a little hairy at the moment. She doubled the par-5 2nd hole and birdied the par-4 8th, now sits at +1 thru 9 holes (T-5). Remember, it's only 18 holes, not 36, so she has little margin for error. The course is 6,350 yards.
Streamsong, FL
They're taking five plus two at the famous Streamsong Resort. Regina Plascencia, who bombed out the US Girls Junior playoff Tuesday night, shot +1 and will fall short. Another familiar name is Latanna Stone, who finished her day at -1, which will probably be good enough to make it to Westchester. She just finished her second year at LSU and has a career scoring average of 72.29 (better than Sagstrom & Ernst when they played at LSU) ... Ingrid Lindblad tops everyone from LSU with 70.29 thru two years which is CRAZY good at this level. She impressed me at the ANWA ... still on the LSU roster, but I wouldn't be surprised if she drops out of school later.
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Post by philknj on Jul 27, 2021 16:11:30 GMT
The USGA website says there will be on-site parking at Westchester, which really surprises me ... I'd prefer a shuttle bus. On the other hand, the WCC website says parking info is TBD. Either way, I'm leaving my house crazy early next Tuesday AM ... I'm packing my bags tomorrow. By my cheap standards, I'm getting murdered on the cost of lodging for one night, but it's a high rent district. I could have saved money staying on the west side of the Hudson, but that would have meant an extra round trip over the Tappan Zee bridge ... wasn't worth the hassle, especially since I have rarely driven through this area. Both sides of the Hudson river is a hotbed of old money private courses (PGA Tour Superstore is on both sides), so I expect a significant fan turnout. I'm definitely hitting the store in White Plains before they close at 8 PM.
The television schedule for the U.S. Women's Amateur is as follows (All times EDT):
Wednesday, 8/4: 2-5 p.m., Golf Channel (Round of 64) Thursday, 8/5: 2-5 p.m., Peacock (Round of 16) Friday, 8/6: 2-5 p.m., Peacock (Quarterfinals) Saturday, 8/7: 2-5 p.m., Golf Channel (Semifinals) Sunday, 8/8: 2-5 p.m., Golf Channel (championship match)
The amazing hotel & apartment building ... I'd like to poke my head in there if they allow it. I wonder if Rose Zhang received any offers from members to give her a free room for the week ... but, would that violate her amateur status significantly?
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Post by philknj on Jul 31, 2021 1:33:16 GMT
The Monday and Tuesday qualifying tee times are set for 155 players, plus one TBD. The top-64 advance to match play starting Wednesday. The course is par-72, 6488 yards.
The field has a few big names, but it could have been so much better. Only 10 of the top-30 from the most recent WAGR list are here. The top-25 from the June 16 WAGR list were exempt from qualifying, but that was no inducement for the four big Swedes (Grant, Stark, Lindblad and Wallin). Angelina Ye (Stanford) changed her mind about playing and Evian low am Pauline Roussin-Bouchard (South Carolina) also declined. If they're all still at U.S. colleges, what else have they got to do at this time? The first stage of LPGA q-school in August might have an effect here, although only two names have leaked out so far as who will skip the USWA for q-school prep, Gina Kim and Team Pano.
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Post by philknj on Aug 2, 2021 5:39:37 GMT
Aside from trying to win this tournament, Emilia Migliaccio also has to fulfill her new day job as Golf Channel's writer for women's golf ... why Rose Zhang is Number One:
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Accuweather says there is almost no chance of rain Monday thru Wednesday with highs between 78F and 80F. There are higher temps for Thursday thru Sunday with a chance of T-storms each day.
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With Olympic golf and the Olympics general dominating the news in Japan, Tsubasa Kajitani at the USWA has slipped under the radar ... I can't find any airport departure pics, practice pics, no nothing. My searches produced a couple of oldies:
The link below has a telling scoreboard pic ... shows Pano with a 65 ... and Kajitani with a 61.
Can she win this week? Her answer:
2016: Set a record for being the youngest player to play the Japan Women's Open (13 years, 17 days)
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Post by philknj on Aug 3, 2021 1:54:12 GMT
Day One of medal qualifying ... not exactly goat track scores. The preliminary cut line is +4 and might be double that by the end of Tuesday.
1 Suthavee Chanachai -3 F* -3 69 69 T2 Aneka Seumanutafa -2 F -2 70 70 T2 Anna Morgan -2 F -2 70 70 T2 Bridget Ma -2 F -2 70 70 T2 Hailey Borja -2 F* -2 70 70 T2 Brooke Seay -2 F* -2 70 70 T7 Alessia Nobilio -1 F -1 71 71 T7 Clare Connolly -1 F -1 71 71 T7 Allysha Mae Mateo -1 F -1 71 71 T7 Rachel Kuehn -1 F* -1 71 71 T7 Valentina Rossi -1 F* -1 71 71 T7 Morgan Baxendale -1 F -1 71 71 T7 Riley Smyth -1 F* -1 71 71
R. Zhang +1 Shepherd +2 Abdulghany +2 Heck +2 Migliaccio +2 Yu Chiang Hou +2 Grace Kim +4 Kajitani +5 Ganne +7
Most unexpected nationality award goes to Hanako Kawasaki (+5) ... representing Vietnam?
Georgia Bulldog Jenny Bae (Even) ... teammate Celeste Dao is +1.
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Post by SoYeonFan on Aug 4, 2021 0:19:52 GMT
Round of sixty four has been completed, plus six made the cut. Megha Ganne missed the cut by one, 79,72.
Rose Zhang shot a couple of one over par rounds.
One of the two USC Golfers made the cut Alyaa Abdulghany 74,69 tied sixth. She is not long off the tee but a great competitor, reminds me of Mi Hyun Kim.
Malia Nam the other Trojan lost in a playoff for the last two spots.
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Post by SoYeonFan on Aug 4, 2021 0:29:03 GMT
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Post by SoYeonFan on Aug 4, 2021 2:16:05 GMT
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Post by SoYeonFan on Aug 4, 2021 22:56:59 GMT
Couple of notable upsets, the Stroke Play Medalist Rachel Kuehn lost to no 64 seed. Number One Amateur Rose Zhang lost one up to Ellie Nachmann. Ellie made birdie on four of the last six holes. Rose rolled in a fifteen foot birdie on eighteenth hole. But Ellie made a six foot birdie to win the Match.
Alyaa Abdulghany lost one up to a birdie on the eighteenth hole. She has been close in several Amateur Matches. Her length of the tee hurt her, with no par five birdies.
Edit: The lower seeded players won nineteen of the thirty two Matches.
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Post by philknj on Aug 5, 2021 10:06:14 GMT
Alyaa Abdulghany lost one up to a birdie on the eighteenth hole.
No, the 18th hole was halved with pars. Alyaa could have been the new EMP on Wednesday, but she blew it. Vonsaga did everything she could to lose the 18th hole ... until she made a crazy par putt. Then Alyaa had about a 10-footer for birdie to extend it to OT, but missed. More on this later, I'm going back to bed.
Rose Zhang didn't look sharp on Tuesday ... not surprised she got eliminated, but I didn't think it would happen this soon. I have no idea who Nachmann is ... she was playing Cobra Fly-Z shovels:
Funny stuff, I didn't notice this sign. The path behind it is on the way to the driving range. A grass tennis court is behind the banner.
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Post by philknj on Aug 5, 2021 16:13:03 GMT
The 1 thru 64 seedings are meaningless in this tournament. With all these college players, there is not a huge talent spread among the top-64 qualifiers ... Muni (64) beat Galdiano (1) in 2016 and Wenzler (64) beat Kuehn (1) in 2021. I followed Kuehn's match from start to finish yesterday ... she might have been thinking, "S***, I bust my azz to win low medalist and my reward is to get a chick who's bigger than me and drives the ball about 50% higher." Kuehn's been a prominent name in the amateur ranks for a while ... not sure if she'd be good enough to thrive in the pros ... would make a nice addition to the LPGA ... think of Lewis - with a personality.
Rose was the low Zhang on Tuesday, but she didn't have her 'A' game, so I started thinking about who else could win. Followed Heck Tuesday, who is tall, rangy and powerful, can put a lot of air under the ball .... waffled her first opponent Wednesday and is crushing Grace Kim today. Checked out Razorback Matthews on Tuesday and Wednesday, who is quite good ... breezed past Brittany Shin, but now she is locked up A/S with Nachmann ... who is this Nachmann?! I wanted to see Wildcat You-Chiang Hou, but there wasn't enough time. She has the pedigree to win it all ... took out a good player in Nobilio (who I saw Tuesday) and just walloped the field's last remaining Liu.
Never heard of Canuck Katie Cranston before ... saw her walking around in her Golf Canada uniform ... I didn't see her play ... waxed her first two opponents. These amateur events force me to do a lot of research afterward to find out who these people are! She's not even in college, only 17. Boy, Canada could sure use someone who is at least on the same planet with The ECP and push that serial gagger Sharpy into the distant background.
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Post by philknj on Aug 5, 2021 17:06:32 GMT
"Fear the Tree" - that's what it says on the Stanford yardage books ... and three cardinals have just made it to the Sweet 16 (Heck, Krauter and Seay).
Time to break the bad news to SoYeonFan - Stanford U. is utterly loaded for the 2021-22 season will roll over Southern Cal and everyone else. The three senior or 5th year players leaving the team were their worst players! Meanwhile, the Zhangster is coming in to join Heck, Englemann, Seay and Ye, who were all well-known during their junior days. Don't forget Aline Krauter ... never heard of her before, but she looked pretty good on Tuesday. They don't leave anything to chance having two ex-LPGAers as assistant coaches, Maddie Sheils and Kathryn Imrie. FEAR THE TREE!
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One of my picks from earlier today is still alive, Matthews beat Nachmann with a birdie at #18. Matthews pulls the trigger quickly after getting over the ball, and that includes her putts ... I think the tour turtles in the pros might drive her crazy.
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Post by philknj on Aug 5, 2021 18:08:34 GMT
Godzilla vs. King Kong Heck vs. Matthews just started ... that would be a worthy final on Sunday. The rest of the field is relieved that one of these two will be eliminated.
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Oh Canada! Cranston does not Fear the Tree, 1-up on Seay after four holes. The stupid Golf Canada website has no news at all on her performance this week ... heck, six Habs showed up on Monday and not one word about them.
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I missed the big party outside the gates of Winged Foot GC yesterday ... remnants of the Purple Gang and others raised hell about Agent Orange showing up for a big fundraiser ... they had some creative and pointed signs on displays ... one of them mentioned he cheats at golf, which is true (third-hand scuttlebutt I heard at the 2009 USWO qualfier).
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There are so many amenities and facilities at WCC ... Mike Whan was talking to someone in the pro shop and said if you took away the golf, the place would still be great ... and he's right! This would be a good place to be at if you wanted to die broke ... the "broke" part would be easy to achieve ... it's matching it up to your death that would be the tricky part.
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