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tBBC Jessica Porvasnik Advanced to Round of 16 in Ladies British Open Amateur Championship

Ken

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Jessica Porvasnik Advanced to Round of 16 in Ladies British Open Amateur Championship
Ken
via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


dundonald_links_scotlandgolf-150x150.jpg

(Image courtesy Scotlandgolf.com and tourney information courtesy OSU Athletics web site)

Buckeye Jessica Porvasnik advanced through stroke play qualifier and two rounds of match play before being edged by Oregon native Monica Vaughn in the Round of 16 in the Ladies British Open Amateur Championship. Jessica was 2-down with 2 holes to play. Not a good position to be in. She rallied to win the 17th hole (clutch golf) to move to 1-down, but lost the 18th hole, and the match, with Monica claiming the match, 2-up.

The OSUWG team was well represented this week at the 2016 Ladies British Open Amateur Championship at Dundonald Links. The course is situated near Troon in Ayrshire, about 30 miles southwest of Glasgow. It is hard by the Firth of Clyde on Scotland’s west coast. As the above video indicated, this course (played from the White Tees – 6,291 yds, par 72 – for this event) can be a challenge. Assuming that you find the fairway and keep your ball out of the heather, you then have to navigate terrain that could pass as “moonscape” or an “RAF practice bombing range”.

Frankly, this is a great event and a greater experience for the Buckeyes. The Ohio State players were: Zoe-Beth Brake (New Zealand), Jaclyn Lee (Canada), Katja Pogacar (Slovenia), Jessica Porvasnik (United States), Niki Schroeder (United States) and Rio Watanabe (Japan). Obviously, coaches Therese Hession and Lisa Strom made this trip, as well. You’ll notice the player’s native country in parenthesis after the player’s name. Since this is an international amateur event, although coaches Hession and Strom are taking them to Scotland as Buckeyes, they are representing their respective homelands. A very nice touch.

Here’s the format: The 144 contestants play 36 holes of stroke play, 18 holes on each of the first two days (June 21-22). The low 64 players begin match play June 23 -25, concluding when, well, there’s a winner.

Stroke Play Qualifier


After the 1st round, the “preliminary” cut-off score was 79 (+7). Jessica (76) and Katja (78) were inside the cut line whilst Jaclyn (80), Rio (80), Niki (81) and Zoe-Beth (84) were just outside the cut. All in all, a good first day showing for the Buckeyes; 2 players appearing to be in good shape for match play and their 3 of 4 team mates with two strokes of qualifying.

Round 2, the final qualifying round shook out a bit differently. Jessica shot a 75 for a 2 round total of 151 (+7). Katja shot 76, 154 (+10). Zoe-Beth shot 77, 161 (+17), Rio shot 81, 161, +17), Niki shot 84, 165 (+21) and Jaclyn shot 88, 168 (+24). Unfortunately, the cut line was 156 (+12), so the only Buckeyes advancing to match play were Jessica and Katja.



Match Play


Round of 64

In Match #10, Katja (seeded #37) faced Lena Schaffer (#24 seed) of Germany. Unfortunately, Katja fell to Lena 3 & 2 (down three holes with two to play). Katja’s tournament is over. But, she can still enjoy Scotland!

In Match #29, 15th seeded Jessica (Porvasnik) faced 50th seed Jessica (Meek) of Scotland. “Our” Jessica prevailed 3 & 2 to move on to the round of 32.

Round of 32

Jessica drew #18 seed Lucretia Colombotto Rosso of Italy (obviously) for the afternoon round of match play. Jessica got off to a great start, and was 4-up through 9 holes. That’s a pretty comfortable lead to have, but if you remember how treacherous the golf course looked, Miss Porvasnik can’t fall asleep on her opponent. Jessica withstood a back nine challenge to hold on to win 2 & 1. She now advances to the “Sweet 16”.

Jessica’s next opponent will be Monica Vaughn of Oregon, who plays for Arizona State University. Like Jessica, Monica was up four holes at the turn and held on for a 2 & 1 win.Monica has recent experience in international play in the British Isles as part of the 2016 United States Curtis Cup team. Monica has some very recent international match play experience. Friday’s match should be good.

In related news, Lena Schaffer (winner over Katja Pogacar the 1st round of match play) needed 3 extra holes to beat her opponent, Amanda Linner (Sweden), to also advance to the Round of 16.

Round of 16


This was a close, well played match. Jessica was down 1 hole after 5 holes of play and down 2 with 2 holes (dormie 2) to play. She won the 17th hole to pull within one hole, but, unfortunately, lost the 18th hole.

Wrap Up


This was a great experience for the players. Getting in a few rounds in the home country of golf is always nice, as is experiencing people from other cultures, but the high level of competition they experienced is what stands out. Preparing for “life after Ohio State” is a worthy goal, especially in this case, if any of the players have aspirations to play on any of the professional tours, or otherwise compete in international competitions.

The level of competition in these types of events goes way beyond competition in regional tournaments, Conference play and even NCAA championships. This was a great opportunity to test their games at a high level to assess where they stand. All in all, I think they measured up quite well.





The post Jessica Porvasnik Advanced to Round of 16 in Ladies British Open Amateur Championship appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.

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