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By Chris Lang
RICHMOND — Lauren Greenlief’s first stop Tuesday after
the first round of the 42nd VSGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship
wasn’t her hotel. No, she made a beeline for Golf Galaxy after putting woes
played a big role in her opening-day 75 at Willow Oaks Country Club.
“Literally drove to
Golf Galaxy, bought a new putter and came back and practiced for an hour before
the storms hit,” she said with a laugh.
The new flat stick
seemed to work for her in Wednesday’s second round, as she made five birdies
and chopped five strokes off her first-round tally to return a 2-under-par 70.
Her two-day aggregate 145 leaves her five strokes clear of the field heading
into Thursday’s third and final round of the 54-hole championship.
The Women’s Stroke
Play was one of three championships held concurrently at Willow Oaks Wednesday.
The 22nd VSGA Senior Women’s Stroke Play and 2nd VSGA
Super Senior Women’s Stroke Play championships (both 36-hole events) began,
with Leesburg’s Allisyn Terry taking the lead in the senior championship and
Richmond’s Boodie McGurn holding the lead in the super senior championship.
In the Women’s
Stroke Play, Tuesday was the culmination of a period of putting struggles, and Ashburn’s
Greenlief (International CC) finally felt compelled to act.
“I’ve been shooting
some good numbers at tournaments, and the putter has been kind of holding me
back,” she said. “I’ve tried something a little different with the putter setup
to get the toe to shut down, because I’ve been missing to the right. I putted
OK today.”
Greenlief entered the
day with a one-stroke lead over Herndon’s Danielle Suh, who returned a 2-over
74 Wednesday and stands in second at 150. Danville’s Mariah Hopkins matched Suh’s
number on Wednesday and shaved three strokes off her first-round total to stand
at 151. Norfolk’s Becca DiNunzio is tied for fourth at 152 with Old Dominion
University women’s golf coach Mallory Hetzel after shooting a second-round 77.
Hetzel improved on her first-round 79 with a second-round 73 to move up the
leaderboard.
Greenlief is
looking to become the first player to ever win four VSGA Women’s Stroke Play
titles and is looking to accomplish the feat on the same course on which she
won her last title in 2011.
“I like my
position, I like playing from ahead,” she said. “I shot a good number on a day
where I didn’t think I hit the ball that solidly. I had a couple of shots go
squirrelly off the tee and had some longer shots in. I made some good recovery
shots and made a couple putts. So that helped.”
22nd VSGA Senior Women’s Stroke
Play Championship
A lesson with River
Creek professional Jon Ronis on Saturday was enough to give Terry, a River
Creek member, some confidence heading into the Senior Women’s Stroke Play
Championship.
Despite some
putting struggles at the end, she hit the ball well off the tee and returned a
3-over 75 Wednesday, putting her one shot ahead of Alexandria’s Linda DiVall
(Mount Vernon CC) heading into Thursday’s second and final round. Vienna’s Mary
Cabriele (CC of Fairfax) and Springfield’s Mimi Hoffman (Belle Haven CC) both
shot 77 and are two shots back.
Terry has lurked
near the top of the leaderboard in several senior events recently, and she’s
hoping Wednesday’s round is a sign that she’s ready to break through.
“I’m just going to
go out and have fun tomorrow,” she said. “I played with all my cronies from the
district (The Washington D.C. Women’s Golf Association), so it just felt like
another fun round today. It didn’t feel like a state championship or anything.
I just need to keep that mentality, that I’m playing with a bunch of friends.”
Terry said the crux
of her lesson with Ronis was to get her shoulders more involved with her swing,
and that allowed her to manage Willow Oaks well. She didn’t hit driver all day,
instead leaving herself in preferred positions for approach shots by hitting
shorter clubs off the tee.
“I wasn’t driving
through the ball,” Terry said. “He just told me to get my shoulders going
through the shot and just get after it.”
Defending champion
Shelley Savage (Army Navy CC) returned 80 on Wednesday and opens the final
round five shots back of Terry.
2nd VSGA Super Senior Women’s
Stroke Play Championship
In the second
playing of the championship for the 65-and-older set, McGurn was just happy to
be there. She had knee replacement surgery four years ago, and recent complications
forced more surgery to fix the repaired joint. Prior to Wednesday, she had
played just one 18-hole round of golf since last October.
“I’ve been laid up,”
said McGurn, who shot a 2-over 74 and is five shots clear of defending champion
Dot Bolling of Salem. “My goal was to play two days in a row here and finish.”
McGurn made three
birdies and five bogeys in the first round, and she gained separation from Bolling
when she birdied the par-4 17th hole as Bolling made double bogey.
“We were neck and
neck, and then she hit into a (penalty area) on 17, and there’s a three-shot
swing,” McGurn said. “I just had so much fun. I was so happy to be out here.”
Three players
finished Wednesday tied for third at 80, six shots back of the lead: Sumerduck’s
Becki Davis, Portsmouth’s Colleen Robertson, and Manakin Sabot’s Tillie Aguiar.
Lang is the editor of Virginia Golfer magazine and the VSGA’s manager,
digital media.