Rookie White Leads After Opening Round in SyracuseSYRACUSE, N.Y., July 30, 2010 – Duramed FUTURES Tour rookie Dolores White leads the $100,000 Alliance Bank Golf Classic following first-round play. White ended the day at an impressive 5-under-par (66) to take a one stroke lead over Cindy LaCrosse of Tampa, Fla., Amelia Lewis of Jacksonville, Fla. and Jane Rah of Torrance, Calif., who carded 4-under-par (67). The Lakeland, Fla. native is competing in only her fifth tournament as a professional following her graduation in May from Wake Forest University. Despite missing the cut in her first event in Hammond, Ind. in June, White has gone on to make the cut in every event since and recorded her best finish last week in Concord, N.H., sharing a tie for19th. "I wasn't sure if I was going to turn pro or stay amateur after I left school," said White. "I had status to play on the Tour, and that's what helped me decide to turn pro and make some money and gain experience. After the last few weeks, I've built up pride in that decision." White started her round on the front nine, which she feels is the easier of the two sides, with three birdies. She would go on to record two more birdies on 7 and 8, and ended the day with a birdie from 25 feet on 18. She allowed for two bogeys on four and 16. "I was in the zone with my putting," admits White, who was a member of the 2005 East Cannon Cup team. "My birdies, which I always seem to get in pairs, weren't easy birdies. They were all from about 15-25 feet. I was happy after I birdied the first three holes. I thought it was good to take advantage of that because the rest of the course can come up and bite you. It was a comfortable start." LaCrosse agrees with White that the back nine on the Drumlins Country Club East Course is the more difficult side. LaCrosse also birdied the first hole and followed it up with six additional birdies. "When you go into the back nine, you know that you and the whole field might give away shots," said LaCrosse, a current LPGA Tour member. "It's more difficult and hillier. You want to make birdies where ever you can. They're make-able on the back but you have to be smarter about making shots. On the front, you can hit a little off-target and still be okay." LaCrosse ran into trouble when the wind began picking up while she was in the middle of the back nine. LaCrosse double-bogeyed 12 after she hit the ball right, just under a tree. "I just made a mess of it," said LaCrosse, who won her first professional event earlier this season at the Rivera Nayarit Challenge in Mexico. "I've been more consistent this season but lately I've been having a few bad holes a round, which I'm trying to get rid of." Rah was the lone professional who went low during the afternoon wave and also the only player among the leaders who started from the back nine. She felt it was to her advantage to get the harder side out of the way early, following a rough start. Twice during her round she followed a birdie with a bogey. "I just had a rollercoaster on the back nine," said Rah, a rookie who was a three-time member of the U.S. Junior Solheim Cup Team. "Usually I like to get the momentum going on the easier side but today it made me feel a lot better knowing I had the easier of the two last." Sharing a tie for fifth at 3-under-par (68) are Mo Martin of Altadena, Calif., Sara Brown of Tucson, Ariz., Laura Crawford of Lancaster, S.C., Cathryn Bristow of Auckland, New Zealand and Angela Oh of Maple Shade, N.J. Crawford had five birdies on her scorecard leading up to the final three holes, when the wind began to pick up for her. "No. 18 is a long hole into the wind and the green is hard," said Crawford, who represented the United States at the World University Championship in Sun City, South Africa. "The approach shot is tougher today into the wind, which didn't help chances. I just have to stay patient and know that anything can happen." Saturday's second round of the Alliance Bank Golf Classic will begin at 7:50 EDT., off the first and tenth tees, with the afternoon tee times starting at 12:30 p.m. The leaders will tee off at 2:30 p.m.
Defending Alliance Bank Golf Classic champion, Jenny Suh of Fairfax, Va., finished the first-round of the 2010 event at 1-under-par (71). Suh admits she put a little pressure on herself to do well in the opening round. "I had extra expectations on this course," said Suh, who is currently tied 13th. "I played it really well last year and it sets up well for my game." Suh said that the change from last year to now has been her ability to drive the ball a little further, which has been causing her to make some adjustments. "On 17, I hit it towards the right, which is what I did last year," said Suh. "But then I was like 'Uh oh'. My ball was in some trees that I wasn't able to reach last year. I still managed to get it up-and-down from about 30 yards for par. It's just those little things that tell me the course isn't the same for me this year." Still, Suh isn't too concerned.
Duramed FUTURES Tour rookie Jessi Gebhardt of Chandler, Ariz., scored her first professional hole-in-one during Friday's first-round play at the Alliance Bank Golf Classic in Syracuse, N.Y. Gebhardt, who recorded three top-10 finishes in collegiate competition while at Oregon State University used a 9-iron on the 131-yard par-three 8th hole to make the ace. Despite the ace, Gebhardt went on to finish the round with a disappointing 8-over-par (79). "It wasn't a great day," admits Gebhardt. "But the ace was definitely the whipped cream. Tomorrow I need to go out there and get eight more." Contact: Joely Pique, Public Relations Manager, Duramed FUTURES Tour, 386-290-7174, joely@duramedfuturestour.com. |
