PLYMOUTH, Massachusetts –The final 18-hole round of stroke play in the 118th Massachusetts Women’s Amateur Championship on Tuesday at Plymouth Country Club (par-70, 5,884-yards) proved to be even more challenging than the day prior with no players shooting under-par.
But after 36-holes, the low 32 players of the 94-player field get to wipe the slate clean as they advance match play, which begins Wednesday, August 11. The cut for match play came at 21-over, 161, with two golfers playing off for the final spot in the bracket.
Rebecca Skoler (Pine Brook Country Club) followed up her record-breaking 6-under 64 with a 6-over 76, but still claimed stroke-play medalist honors with an even-par 140.
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The Round of 32 matches begins at 7:30, with top-seeded Skoler taking on Emma Abramson (The Ridge Club), who earned the final spot in a sudden-death playoff against Jacqueline Cingel (MIAA). The Round of 16 follows in the afternoon, followed by the Quarterfinals and Semifinals on Thursday, and the final 18-hole match taking place Friday at 7:30 a.m.
Keira Joshi (Nashawtuc Country Club), had the Low Net score of 2-under 68 and earned the Osgood Memorial Cup. Joshi, 16, finished T19 overall and earned a spot into match play. Net score is calculated using the Handicap Indexes of the players as of Thursday, August 5.
Following up a record-breaking round from the day prior is never easy with potentially an entire week of championship golf ahead. Fortunately for Rebecca Skoler, she played well enough where her top spot was never in jeopardy.
Skoler, a sophomore at the University of Virginia, made just one birdie (the par-5 12th, 445-yards) and shot 6-over, but she said she was just trying to enjoy the day, not fixating over the score on the card.
“I felt really confident in my game yesterday, and then did not have it today, but that’s what Nelly Korda says [is] you don’t know the outcome, all you can do is have a good time, have fun, keep smiling so that’s what I tried to do, even though it was a rough one.”
The main difference Tuesday was that Skoler wasn’t hitting as many fairways, setting up more difficult approach shots into greens.
“My game today was very different than yesterday, so I think I was put in a lot of different positions today,” Skoler said. “If you miss greens, it can be hard [to make] up and downs. There’s a lot of trouble surrounding the greens, and then even putting, my speed wasn’t as good as yesterday and there’s a lot of undulation in these greens so it can be kind of tough to read them and then have to play the right pace based on your line.”
After making the semifinals each of the last two years, Skoler will now try to go for it all again. If she wins her first match, she could end up facing No. 17 Allison Paik (The Cape Club of Sharon), the defending champion, in the Round of 16.
The best round of the day came from Tracy Martin (Vesper Country Club), who was the only player to shoot even-par on Tuesday and finished second overall in stroke play. Martin, playing in a twosome alongside U.S. Senior Women’s Open qualifier Sue Curtin (Boston Golf Club), finished strongly with consecutive birdies on holes 7 and 8. Her round began on the 10th.
Martin, the runner-up in 2012, sank an 8-footer that just rolled over the edge for birdie on the volcano green par-4 7th (317-yards) and then hit an accurate tee shot within 4 feet of the flagstick on the par-3 8th (122-yards).
“I gave a couple [strokes] back on the holes before that, but playing with Sue (Curtin) is always a fun time, and we were just pumping ourselves up,” Martin said. “I barely made it on 7, and on 8 we just matched each other.”
Martin also added birdies on the 12th (445-yard) and 16th (490-yards), sinking a 20-footer on the 16th to move to 1-under for the day. Though she had longer irons into the greens Tuesday, she was able to be more aggressive with a softer surface from the day prior.
“It’s a course that you have to play a few times to really get comfortable,” said Martin after her third-round ever at Plymouth. “A lot of the shots I hit in that I would have hit yesterday didn’t jump and I definitely put myself in different positions. I just kept playing my game and made some more confident swings.”
Megan Buck (Thorny Lea Golf Club), the medalist last year, closed out a top-3 finish by shooting 4-over 74 that included all pars on her final 10 holes.
Sana Tufail (Southborough Golf Club), who’s originally from the United Arab Emirates, is one stroke behind Buck, while 2019 champion Angela Garvin (The Ranch Golf Club) moved to 5th overall with a 3-over 73 in the second round.
Here are some other tidbits from Day 2 at the Massachusetts Women’s Amateur Championship.
Not sure what was better…the putt by Ellie De Andrade or the caddie celebration.#MassWomensAm | #MassGolf pic.twitter.com/MUm2TnUEfv
— Mass Golf (@PlayMassGolf) August 10, 2021
Hey @RiggsBarstool, the ladies of Mass Golf have a message for you.
Up to you, but we definitely wouldn’t want to be the ones to tell @Shan_Johnson10, the 2018 US Women’s Mid-Am Champ, NO. pic.twitter.com/e7ZgrdojVJ
— Mass Golf (@PlayMassGolf) August 10, 2021
The level of cuteness is off the charts.#MassWomensAm | #MassGolf pic.twitter.com/rHaZzFKR0L
— Mass Golf (@PlayMassGolf) August 10, 2021
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