Bellingham's Jessi Gebhardt (right) will not be playing in this week's RR Donnelley Founders Cup at Wildfire GC in Phoenix, Ariz. having missed out on the play-off, for one of the two available spots, at yesterday's qualifying tournament by a single stroke. Gebhardt who shot three consecutive 74s at Wildfire last week in a Cactus Tour event, posted an excellent one-under 71 that could have been better were it not for a double-bogey on her 17th hole. "I made one bad swing all day and it cost me two strokes," she said on her blog.
Despite her disappointment, it's clear Gebhardt will not be deterred in her hope of one day joining the big leagues. "I had it going and played a great round overall," she says. "I gave myself great looks at birdies on a challenging course. The great news is I know I belong on the LPGA Tour. I am very close to getting there and am playing great going into the start of the Symetra Tour season."
The Symetra Tour (formerly the LPGA Futures Tour) begins on March 23rd at the Florida's Natural Charity Classic in Winter Haven, Fla.
Laura Diaz, with a 69, and Jenny Jenq, who made a birdie on the first play-off hole to break the four-way tie for second, qualified for the event which honors the 13 founders of the LPGA.
Western Washington University’s Nick Varelia has been named Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men’s Golfer of the Week for March 4-10. The senior from Kent finished third in the Cal State East Bay Pioneer Shootout in leading the Vikings to fourth place. He shot 10-over 226 for the 54 holes, finishing five behind medalist Chris Herzog of Cal State East Bay.
Varelia is averaging 73.8 strokes per round this season. In 2010-11, he was a first-team GNAC all-star with a 74.4 average and took medalist honors at the GNAC Championships as WWU claimed its fourth straight title. The weekly honor is the third of Varelia’s four-year career.
Tyler Wong, assistant professional at Sudden Valley, will be holding a half-hour short game clinic at the course on Thursday March 22nd at 4.30pm. The cost is $25. Call 360-734-6435 to book your place.
The Aerotech SteelFiber shaft notched its fifth top-ten finish on the PGA Tour in the last eight weeks with Matt Kuchar's tie for eighth at the WGC Cadillac Championship in Florida.
