On a long day in which the scheduled double-round wasn’t
quite completed, Penn State senior Jackie Rogowicz, a two-time PIAA runnerup at
Pennsbury, ended up sitting in a tie for second in the individual standings when
play was suspended for the day due to darkness in the River Landing Classic Monday
at River Landing Country Club in Wallace, N.C.
Rogowicz, who has qualified for the U.S. Amateur three
times, opened with a solid 1-over-par 73 over the 6,082-yard, par-72 River
Landing layout and was 1-under through 15 holes of her second round when
darkness fell to leave her at even-par for the tournament, six shots behind the
leader, East Tennessee State’s Hee Ying Loy, a senior from Malaysia. Nobody has
more than three holes left to play.
Penn State, at No. 40 in the latest Golfstat rankings the second highest-ranked team in the River
Landing field, is coming off a program-record score for 54 holes in finishing
ninth against a loaded field in last month’s UCF Challenge in Orlando, Fla.
But the Nittany Lions got off to a slow start Monday and
were in seventh place in the 15-team field when play was suspended. Penn State
carded a 13-over 301 in the opening round and was 8-over for the second round,
leaving the Nittany Lions 21-over for the tournament.
The golf course seems to have played tough, though, and Penn
State is only 16 shots out of the lead held by Campbell, the highest-ranked
team in the field at No. 32. And the Nittany Lions are only nine shots out of
second place, which is held by No. 65 Middle Tennessee at 12-over par.
The Fighting Camels opened with an 8-over 296, a popular
number in the first round, but were 3-under in the afternoon and 5-over for the
tournament when play was halted. Middle Tennessee had the best round of the
morning, a 2-over 290, but was 10-over in the afternoon and 12-over for the
tournament, seven shots behind Campbell.
Penn State’s Big Ten rival Rutgers, ranked 89th,
and No. 74 Memphis are tied for third at 15-over. Both teams matched Campbell’s
opening-round 296 and were both 7-over for the second round and 15-over for the
tournament.
No. 76 East Tennessee State was the fourth team to post an
opening-round 296 and, at 10-over in the afternoon, was alone in fifth place at
18-over. Tourney host North Carolina Wilmington, ranked 103rd, was a
shot behind East Tennessee State in sixth at 19-over.
The Seahawks matched Penn State’s opening-round 301 and were
6-over in the afternoon. Penn State was two shots behind UNC Wilmington in
seventh at 21-over.
No. 85 Seton Hall, coming off a solid runnerup finish in the
Rio Verde Invitational in Arizona, is tied for 12th at 33-over par.
The Pirates opened with a 309 and were 8-over in the afternoon. Georgetown, the
team Seton Hall finished second to in the Big East Championship last spring, is
a shot ahead of the Pirates in 11th at 32-over.
Campbell was led by Anna Svanka, a senior from Latvia, and
Isabell Ekstrom, a sophomore from Sweden, both of whom were among a group of
four players tied for fourth at 1-over. Svanka opened with a 1-over 73 and was
even-par in the afternoon and Ekstrom carded a 2-over 74 in the opening round
and was 1-under in the afternoon.
Emily Hawkins, a freshman from Lexington, N.C., gave the
Fighting Camels three players in the top eight as she landed in a group tied
for eighth at 2-over. Hawkins opened with a 75 and was 1-under in the
afternoon.
Stacey White, a
junior from Australia, was in the group tied for 18th at 4-over
after opening with a 74 and going 2-over for her incomplete second round. Anna
Nordfors, a freshman from Sweden, is among the group tied for 25th
at 5-over. Like her teammates Ekstrom and Hawkins, Nordfors was 1-under in the
afternoon after struggling to a 6-over 78 in the opening round.
East Tennessee State’s Loy had the best round of the day, a
4-under 68, in the opening round to take control of the individual chase. She
was 2-under when play was called and, at 6-under, will hold a commanding
six-shot lead when play resumes Tuesday morning.
Joining Penn State’s Rogowicz in the tie for second at
even-par was Rutgers’ Ashleigh Grenham, a graduate student from England.
Grenham bettered par in the morning with a 1-under 71 and was 1-over for her afternoon
round when play was halted.
Joining the Campbell pair of Svanka and Ekstrom in the group
tied for fourth at 1-over were Middle Tennessee’s Jenna Burris, a redshirt
senior from Manchester, Tenn., and UNC Wilmington’s Phu Khine, a freshman from
Myanmar. Burris opened with a 1-under 71 and was at 2-over for her afternoon
round while Khine matched par in the opening round with a 72 and was 1-over for
her afternoon round.
Backing up Rogowicz for Penn State were senior Cara Basso, a
Villa Maria Academy product and reigning two-time winner of the Women’s Golf
Association of Philadelphia Match-Play Championship, and junior Megan McLean, a
Voorhees High product, both of whom are in a group tied for 27th at
6-over.
Basso opened with a 3-over 75 and was 3-over in the
afternoon while McLean struggled to an opening-round 78, but got it going in
the afternoon and was even-par through 16 holes.
Senior Lauren Waller, the 2014 PIAA Class AAA runnerup as a
senior at Canon-McMillan, was in the group tied for 54th at 11-over.
She opened with a 3-over 75, but was struggling at 8-over in the afternoon.
Sarah Willis, a freshman from Eaton, Ohio, is among the
group tied for 60th at 12-over. Willis opened with a 78 and was
6-over in the afternoon.
Junior Madelein Herr, a District One Class AAA champion as a
senior at Council Rock North, is competing
as an individual for the Nittany Lions and, as she did while playing as
an individual in the UCF Challenge, making a strong case for breaking into the
starting lineup. Herr opened with a 6-over 78, but was 2-under for her
afternoon round and among the group tied for 18th at 4-over.
Leading the way for Seton Hall was junior Maddie Sager, the
2015 PIAA Class AAA runnerup as a senior at Owen J. Roberts. Sager opened with
a 4-over 76 and was 2-over in the afternoon, leaving her among the group tied
for 27th at 6-over.
Sophomore Mia Kness, the 2016 PIAA Class AAA champion as a
senior at Peters Township, and Lizzie Win, a junior from Sylvania, Ohio, are
among a group tied for 44th at 8-over. Kness opened with a 78 and
was 2-over in the afternoon while Win carded an opening-round 76 and was 4-over
in the afternoon.
Carolina Ronchel Salas, a junior from Spain, was in the
group tied for 60th at 12-over as she struggled to an opening-round
79 and was 5-over in the afternoon. Junior Sammie Staudt, a former Coatesville
standout, was in the group tied for 71st at 15-over. Staudt
struggled in the opening round with an 83, but was just 4-over in the afternoon
when play was called.
Gianna Tomeo, a senior from Bradenton, Fla. competing as an
individual for the Pirates, had trouble solving the River Landing layout and
was alone in 88th place at 35-over.
As I mentioned in an earlier post on the Colleton River
Collegiate in Bluffton, S.C., where the Penn State men are competing, the
ladies might have to break out the cold-weather gear when they return to River
Landing to complete the second round and play the final round Tuesday.
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