Pauline misses cut
Pauline del Rosario’s first crack at Epson Tour’s weekend stint ended in shambles as she bogeyed four of the last six holes in a frantic attempt to nail birdies and make the cut. She limped with a 76 and out of the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic in Winter Haven, Florida Saturday.
Korean Kum Kang Park bucked the wind and the challenging Country Club of Winter Haven with a bogey-free 67 as she wrested control at 137.
She was one-stroke ahead of Swede Frida Kinhult, who shot a 70 for a 138 to gain joint second with erstwhile leader Min-G Kim. Kim slowed down with a 71 after a 67.
There were nine others in the hunt for the title. Maria Fernanda Torres of Puerto Rico and Chinese Weiwei Zhang pooled identical 139s after a 69 and 70, respectively. Natalie Srinivasan of the United States turned in a 71 for a 141. Tied on 142 were Sarah White (68), Alana Uriell (71), Sierra Brooks (71), Lindy Duncan (72), all of the US, Dani Holmqvist of Sweden (71) and India’s Nishtha Madan (74).
Fil-Am Clariss Guce made it through after fighting back with a 71 to move from below the cutoff line to a share of 32nd at 146, nine strokes off Park.
Maybe, I played too aggressive and made too many wrong judgments.
A two-time Symetra Tour winner, Guce hit all but two fairways and missed four greens but struggled on the sleek surface and finish with 31 putts. Her three-birdie, two-bogey game proved enough to put her in the money race after a so-so 75 opening. Del Rosario looked headed to joining the 61 bidders in the final round of the 54-hole championship after hitting back-to-back birdies from No. 4 to improve to an even-par overall. But she played too aggressive from there, leading to a string of bogeys and ending up way down at joint 72nd at 150.
“Maybe, I played too aggressive and made too many wrong judgments,” rued the 24-year-old ICTSI-backed bet. She earlier blew an early two-stroke gain with a double-bogey on No. 8.
She birdied the ninth but floundered in the last nine holes, dropping a stroke on No. 10, reeling back with bogeys on Nos. 13 and 14 and yielding two more strokes on Nos. 16 and 18.
“Many lessons learned today (Saturday),” said the recent winner of the Mayfair Championship of the East Coast Women’s Pro Tour.
She will have two weeks to recover and toughen up before resuming her campaign in the Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic in Mesa, Arizona. Del Rosario actually had a stint on a Symetra Tour event last year, a reward for her victory in the Women’s All Pro Tour in Arizona. But she also struggled and failed to advance in the Twin Bridges Championship in Albany, New York.