Three tournaments in one post
I’ve been on the road since the first of June and in three different states competing, so I’m just now getting a chance to catch you up!
US Open Qualifying, Firekeepers Casino Championship and Colorado Open recap
My 36 hole qualifying round for the US Women’s Open was at the OGA Course in Woodburn on Monday, June 5. I decided to skip the Epson Tour event the previous weekend, which was in North Carolina, so I could play a course I know really well and increase my odds of qualifying. Having my brother, Tim, on the bag and getting a quick lesson in with Al Cross were two other reasons to play at home.
I played well in my first 18, posting a -2, but was +4 on my second round. I ended 7th, which was not good enough to qualify. (See results here.)
It was disappointing, but there wasn’t much down time to reflect, because I had to catch a red eye to Grand Rapids for the Firekeepers Casino Hotel Championship in Battle Creek, Michigan June 8 – 10. Michigan is beautiful, the course was nice and my host family was the best. My former OSU teammate, Olivia, and I stayed there together and shared a car to reduce costs – then ended up with opposite tee times, so that was a bit of a challenge since we were staying 35 minutes from the course. Fortunately, we had some help from our awesome host mom and fellow Epson Tour players, so we were able to work it out.
I shot a pair of 75s, which was not good enough to make the cut. (Results here)
Colorado Open
The Epson Tour had a week off following the Battle Creek tournament, so I decided to play in the Colorado Women’s Open at Green Valley Ranch June 14 – 16. The Colorado Open offers a prize of $100,000 to the winner and the overall purse is pretty comparable to an Epson event, so there is a lot of interest. This year, there were 117 women in the field. The tournament is also a different format than I have ever played. Forty of the women in the field are paired with an amateur and there is a competition within the competition. I was not playing the Pro-Am, but I did have a team in my group.
As it seems to be with all air travel these days, getting to Denver was a bit of an adventure. Sunday evening, Olivia and I were on the same flight out of Grand Rapids to Denver, where we were staying together in an AirBNB. Halfway through the flight, our plane was struck by lightening and nearly forced to land in Tulsa. We touched down in Dallas for our layover about an hour later than expected, but were stranded there for several hours due to surrounding storms. Many flights were canceled and the airport was a real zoo. Our flight made it to Denver finally and we arrived at our AirBNB at 4 a.m. We spent Monday getting some rest and played a practice round on Tuesday.
Rounds 1 and 2
My first round was off the back and I started a little rough, posting five bogeys and one birdie on my first 9. I rallied on the back though and had three birdies, including one on my final hole, plus one more bogey to finish at 2 over for the day. Day two was delayed about 40 minutes due to fog. I birdied three of my first four holes and finished round 2 with a bogey free 69, which moved me to T18, easily making the cut, which was the top 40 of the field (+4).
Final Round
The final round was rainy and cold. I played pretty steady, ending even par with three birdies and three bogeys. My -1 finish was good enough for top twenty (T19) and my first pay check since March!
You can see the leaderboard results here. (Be sure to select the correct drop down box in the upper left: “Overall – Before Cut” for rounds 1 and 2 and “Overall – Final Rd” for round 3.
I was also lucky enough to see my former OSU teammate Lauren Murphy, who hails from Colorado and is currently living in Denver.
What’s next?
Since the Colorado Open isn’t part of the Epson Tour, my finish there will not do anything to improve my status, but it felt great to play well and earn a paycheck. I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed for a couple nights before I head out again to the next Epson event, which is in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, June 23 – 25.
