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Dates: Monday, June 17 - Wednesday, June 19
Format: Three rounds of stroke play, with play beginning off Nos. 1 and 10 on Monday and Tuesday starting at 10:30 a.m. The low 25 players and ties will advance to Wednesday's third and final round, with all play beginning off No. 1 starting at 8 a.m.
Host site: Independence Golf Club
Day 3: Penn State's Cox dominates field, earns seven-stroke Women's Open victory
(Michelle Cox tees off on 8 on Wednesday at Independence. Credit: Chris Lang/VSGA)
MIDLOTHIAN -- Penn State's Michelle Cox opened the third and final round of the 2nd Women's Open of Virginia at Independence Golf Club with a five-stroke cushion over her closest competitors. A hot start on Wednesday ensured there would be no final-round drama.
Cox birdied her first two holes to increase the lead to seven strokes, and she posted a three-day aggregate total of 7-under-par 209 to win by that same margin. Cox was the only player in the field to post three under-par rounds (71-67-71), and her five-birdie run on the back nine in Tuesday's second round proved to be the decisive stretch in her victory.
Three amateurs posted three-day aggregate totals of even-par 216 to finish tied for second: Fairfax's Alexandra Austin, Pennsylvania teenager Rhianna Gooneratne, and Ashburn's Sydney Hackett.
Jillian Drinkard, a teaching professional at Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville, finished at 1-over 217 to earn low professional honors.
Afterward, the Virginia State Golf Association and Middle Atlantic PGA announced the next Women's Open of Virginia, to be held in June 2025, will be contested at Farmington, and the perpetual trophy for the championship will be named in honor of Virginia Golf Hall of Famer Robbye Unger, longtime Farmington member and champion of women's golf and junior girls' golf in Virginia. Unger was on hand at Independence on Wednesday to help with the presentation of the champions' trophy to Cox.
NOTABLE
- No other player in the field posted two under-par rounds during the tournament.
- Gooneratne and Hackett each started their rounds at 1-under, five shots back of Cox. Each posted 1-over rounds of 73 on Wednesday.
- Cox finished the tournament with 12 birdies and an eagle, despite only hitting 10 fairways total over the three days.
- There were only five under-par scores in Wednesday's round. Austin posted a 2-under 70 to move five spots up the leaderboard into the tie for second. Jessica Spicer (winner of last year's inaugural VSGA Women's Mid-Amateur) shot 70 and finished tied for fifth. Joining Cox at 71 were amateur Addie Doroh (past VSGA Junior Girls' champion) and professional Taylor Babcock.
- Included in Austin's 2-under round was a hole out from the fairway on No. 1. She hit an 8-iron from 134 yards, and the ball landed on the fairway, bounced once and dropped for an eagle.
- Drinkard, who grew up in Appomattox and played and studied in the PGM program at Methodist University, finished three shots clear of Megan Werenski for low pro honors.
QUOTABLE
- "I felt pretty good on the range, I was calm. It was nice to have a little bit of a cushion. You're not trying to think about the lead. Anything can happen. Starting off well helped. It just kind of got things rolling." -- Cox
- See more of Cox's post-round interview in the video below.
- "I struck the ball well all three days. Today, I didn't have as many close putts to give myself opportunities for birdie. I was a constant battle for me to hit greens and find the right pace on the greens. Overall, I had a great ball-striking three days and I drove the ball well." -- Drinkard
- "I haven't even been professional for a whole year yet. I just started at Farmington Country Club in January. It's been great to have my friend Marin (Warring), who I work with, on the bag today. She really helped me keep my cool. It's a great honor." -- Drinkard on earning low pro honors
- "It's my favorite golf course. It's my favorite place. I have all of it memorized--some things good, some things bad. But it's a very special place for me, and it's going to a wonderful place for this event to be at next year." -- Robbye Unger on Farmington, host of next year's Women's Open.
- "When we started this process and talked with our golf committee, ultimately it was a resounding yes on hosting this event in 2025. Obviously to support the trophy with Robbye Unger's name on it is great. I've only been at Farmington for three years, but I understand what her name means in the lore of Farmington. For us, it's full blown excitement." -- Geoff Montross, director of golf at Farmington
Day 2: Cox surges to five-shot lead
(Leader Michelle Cox. Credit: Kate Brown/VSGA)
MIDLOTHIAN -- Amateur Michelle Cox rode an unprecedented (for her at least) run of birdies on the back nine on Tuesday at Independence Golf Club to surge to a five-stroke lead after two rounds of the 2nd Women's Open of Virginia.
Cox, a rising senior at Penn State, made five straight birdies from Nos. 13 to 17 to break away from the pack on Tuesday. Afterward, she said she had never made more than four birdies in a row in a competitive round. Cox capped the round by getting up and down for par from a tough spot behind the 18th green to finish her day at 5-under-par 67. Cox shot a two-day aggregate total of 6-under 138 to open a five-stroke lead over amateurs Sydney Hackett and Rhianna Gooneratne, two of the three players who were tied for the 18-hole lead.
The other who was tied atop the leaderboard heading into Tuesday, professional Megan Werenski, struggled to a 4-over 76 and is in a six-way tie for second.
Twenty-nine players made the 36-hole cut after shooting 6-over or better. The third and final round will begin at 8 a.m. on Wednesday with all play going off tee No. 1.
NOTABLE
- Cox made back-to-back bogeys at 4 and 5 early in her round but settled down for three straight pars before making a birdie on No. 9 to make the turn at even-par 36. During the five-birdie run, she made about a 60-foot putt on 15 after scrambling just to make the green in regulation. She then hit it tight on 16 and 17 to keep the run going.
- Cox plays for Kristen Simpson at Penn State. Simpson played at the University of Virginia and won the 2008 VSGA Women's Stroke Play Championship and encouraged Cox to make the trip to Virginia to play.
- Gooneratne was in the lead after a 2-under 34 on the front nine, but bogeys at 11 and 12 dropped her back to even. She made another bogey at 16 before parring her final two holes.
- Hackett, who plays at Western Kentucky, had an up-and-down round, finishing with five bogeys and four birdies. After making bogeys in three of four holes, she rallied for a birdie on No. 18 to finish in red numbers.
- Werenski's round was undone by an adventure on the par-3 14th hole. She hit her tee shot to the valley left of the front hole location, then failed to reach the green with the chip. Her second chip went long, and she three-putted from there for a costly triple bogey.
- Professional Jillian Drinkard, PGA, who works at Farmington Country Club, moved nine spots up on the leaderboard with a 1-under 71. She's the low MAPGA professional after two rounds, two shots clear of Ashley Grier, PGA.
- The biggest mover of the day was amateur Carter Bransford, who followed her opening-round 76 with a 2-under 70 to move 27 spots up the leaderboard into a tie for fifth. Amateur Ariana Castro followed her opening-round 75 with a 2-under 70 to move 23 spots up the leaderboard into a tie for seventh.
- Twenty-three amateurs and six professionals made the cut.
QUOTABLE
- "I started off with the par-5, I hit four good shots and made a birdie there. Then I hit it tight on the par-3. I was a little out of position on 15, I was fortunate to birdie that one. Then I was close on 16 and 17. I was really happy with that. It was really fun to do." -- Cox on her five-birdie run.
- "I was in the right trees, so I had to hit it to the left side of the green. It was the best I could do with the wedge. Then I was was fortunate to roll it in. You're there trying to protect the four, then you end up rolling it in for three. It's a huge momentum swing. Then I hit one of the best drives of the day on 16, and I think (the birdie) had a little something to do with that." -- Cox on her 60-foot birdie putt on 15.
- "You can't think about it. You can't get ahead of yourself. There's a lot of golf left--there's a third of the tournament left. So I'm going to just keep trying to do what I did yesterday and today and hopefully hit a few more fairways." -- Cox on Wednesday's round.
- "I'm just going to go out and have fun and see if any birdie putts will drop. I'm not going to press, or try overly hard or anything like that." -- Hackett
- "I had the lefts a little bit today, but I hit a really good tee shot and a so-so iron and then a great putt. So it's out there, it's just a matter of whether it happens or not tomorrow." -- Hackett on her birdie on 18.
- "I definitely think I played better on the first day. I definitely got up and down more than I did today. I left a couple out there today. But overall, my ball striking was pretty good the first two days, and I think that's pretty important on a course like this."
Day 1: Werenski, Gooneratne, & Hackett in the lead after day 1
MIDLOTHIAN -- Three players earned a spot at the top of the leaderboard after the first day of the 2nd Women's Open of Virginia on Monday at Independence Golf Club. Megan Werenski (Hickory, N.C.), Rhianna Gooneratne (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.), and Sydney Hackett (Ashburn, Va.), all fired a 2-under par 70 to secure the lead in the tournament.
Nine more players were within two shots of the lead after 18 holes of the 54-hole event.
Play resumes again Tuesday morning at 8:30, with the three leaders scheduled to tee off at 10:30 a.m. on hole No. 1.
NOTABLE
- Werenski played steady golf, with an even-par 36 on the front nine. Her putts started to drop more on the back nine, which consisted of two birdies on holes 13 and 15 to take her to the top of the leaderboard.
- Gooneratne took advantage of the par 5s, making birdies on holes 4, 8 and 17. Gooneratne, 17, is the reigning Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association AAA girls' champion.
- Hackett plays at Western Kentucky and was a semifinalist (with Melanie Walker) in this year's U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball Championship.
- Michelle Cox (Allentown, Pa.) eagled the par 5 8th hole, and is currently tied for 4th on the leaderboard. Cox was Penn State's scoring leader this past season.
- Players observed the undulations on and around the greens during the practice round and noted that it was important to aim for the middle of the green, instead of firing at the pins.
- Two University of Richmond Spider golfers (Olivia Wilkie and Maya Beasley) are competing this week on their home course.
QUOTABLE
- "The course is in really great shape, its playing really firm and fast, so I think yesterday [during the practice round] I was trying to figure out how fast my ball was rolling out when it hit the greens." -- Lauren Greenlief on Independence.
- "I am originally from Scotland, I moved here to North Carolina seven years ago, and went to Lenoir-Rhyne University. I still live there, I turned pro two years ago, so I have been playing the mini tours and just gearing up for Q-School coming in August." -- Werenski on her golf journey