It may be day two, but day one has just concluded for the FPO division after several cards were forced to suspend play and resume this morning. The later tee times were halted multiple times due to lightning delays and by the time the round was declared safe to finish, it was dark. As inconvenient as this sounds…. Well, it is precisely that: inconvenient. The later tee times from yesterday will be playing up to 24 holes today, with those cards finishing their rounds before and while the MPO players tee. Depending on one’s point of view, this provides an unfair advantage to those only playing 18 holes or an advantage to those who played this morning because they feel more warmed up going into round two.
Regardless, any woman in the division will take whatever advantage they can get on the field leader, Catrina Allen, who shot an impressive -5. Cat played bogeyless golf for most of the round until her bogey on hole 18, the second most difficult hole for FPO behind only hole one.
Tied for second place, three strokes behind Catrina, are Hailey King and Macie Walker. Hailey enters the tournament as one of the favorites to win. Coming off a disappointing weekend at Jonesboro, she looks to redeem herself on a distance oriented course that favors a player with a strong sidearm game. Similarly, Macie Walker entered the tournament hoping to outperform her Jonesboro weekend. Her game consists of a powerful backhand, solid forehand, and steady putt. This is Macie’s second lead card in a row as she looks to be recognized as more than merely a talent.
Rounding out the lead card for round two is Jennifer Allen, another favorite to win the event. Jen hasn’t toured as much as her peers the past few years, but has wreaked havoc upon her local Phoenix, AZ women’s divisions, finishing top two at 11 of 13 events in 2020, winning seven.
Round two was not as kind to Jennifer Allen as she may have hoped. Shooting three over par on the day, she began her round four over through the first seven holes, but shot one under par from there. Her card mate Macie Walker matched her bogey on the first hole of the round but only saw two more bogeys and three birdies on the day, finishing her at even par.
Hailey King and Catrina Allen finished round two with a scorching hot -6 each. Hailey remains three strokes behind Catrina, but has given herself six strokes of breathing room on Macie Walker, beating her by just that on the round.
Joining Catrina, Hailey, and Macie on lead card for the third round is Kona Panis, who started her round four under through four holes, but finished -2 on the round, putting her one stroke ahead of Heather Young in fifth place.
The second hottest round of the day came from Maria Oliva, who soared up the leaderboard from 19th place to solo sixth by way of a 991 rated -4. Maria finished the round with eight birdies, the third most in the division behind only Hailey and Catrina who had ten and nine, respectively.
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