After 12 holes of yesterday's second round at the PNGA Men's Amateur Championship at Tetherow GC in Bend, OR., Matt Rawitzer (right) was an incredible eight-under-par for the day having birdied the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 10th, 11th and 12th holes, and eagled the 426-yard 5th after holing his approach shot. He stood at an impressive 11-under for the tournament and three clear of fellow Oregon State golf team member David Fink of Kailua, HI.
Unfortunately, the Bellingham native found the water at the Par 5 13th where he made a double-bogey, then bogeyed the 14th and 15th, eventually signing for a four-under 68. On seven-under 137, he and Fink were tied, a shot clear of first-round leader Chris Williams.
In the playoff for the Charles Henry Davis Medalist Award, Fink hit the flagstick with his second shot and made a birdie three which Rawitzer narrowly failed to match after missing a 12ft putt.
Rawitzer was therefore seeded #2 for the matchplay section of the tournament, and today plays Johnny Miller (no, not THAT Johnny Miller) of Portland, OR. in the Round of 64.
Strokplay scores here.
Rawitzer's second round scorecard here.
Rawitzer/Miller scorecard here.
A week after playing in her first ever US Womens Open, Jessi Gebhardt is in Bloomfield, CT for the LPGA Futures Tour's ING New England Classic and, not surprisingly perhaps, she headed straight for the practice putting and chipping areas to work on her short game. "After playing in the US Open, I realized those parts of my game really need to improve," she says. "In order to succeed on the LPGA Tour, I need to start making a lot more putts and getting up and down more often. I'll be practicing hard to become the best putter and short game player I know."
Gebhardt adds she also needs to learn a few new tricks for hitting shots out of the rough - invariably short and sparse at Futures Tour venues. "It's hard to learn and trust new shots the week of an event," she says.
