Fiorina, with her dog, leads field
On men’s side, ex-college standout Bartlett has 7-shot advantage
One of the most influential visitors to the Santa Fe Country Club for Friday’s second round never stepped foot on the cushioned green grass, not once reached into the bag for a trusty iron, not a single time stooped low to line up a par putt.
A terrier mix who kept an extremely low profile in her owner’s golf cart, Sopaipilla provided moral support and emotional comfort to the player who finds herself at the top of the leaderboard in the women’s Santa Fe City Championship. After two rounds, Chanet Fiorina sits atop the standings with a score of 2-over 146.
She owns a six-shot lead entering Saturday’s final round at the Marty Sanchez Links de Santa Fe, the final leg in a three-day tournament that began Thursday at Las Campanas.
Unlike Thursday’s sometimes windy elements, the weather was downright perfect Friday afternoon. There was virtually no hint of wind and there was just enough cloud cover to take the bite out of the summer heat.
Fiorina carded a Day 2 total of even par 72 as her four-legged friend spent most of her time sitting quietly in the driver’s seat of the golf cart the pair shared with Shannelle Tafoya. Together the trio posted the only sub-80 scores in the second round.
“I find a lot of comfort having her with me,” Fiorina said. “A lot of the members here at the country club know her because, you know, the just kind of assume she’s my caddie.”
Fiorina was solid in every part of her game. She was consistent off the tee and avoided any mistakes on the green that could have cost her valuable strokes.
When the scores were adjusted for net results, Gail Roos was alone in first with a two-day total of 140. She was, in reality, 29 strokes off the pace before the adjustment for handicap.
The men’s tournament saw a dramatic dip in scoring from Day 1 to Day 2. All but a handful of the top players shaved at least a few strokes off their scores as the tournament shifted to the more familiar track of the Country Club. One of the exceptions is the player who continued to distance himself from the field in the championship flight.
Former college standout and PGA professional Jonathan Bartlett fired his second straight 4-under 68 to open what amounts to a commanding seven shot lead with 18 holes to play.
Seven of the 11 players in the top flight had their scores improve. Chandler Smith-Stetson was the only other player to break 70 as he hit the clubhouse with a 3-under 69. He is tied with Santa Fe’s Eric Trujillo, who was just one of two players in the flight to post a higher score Friday.
His second round 72 leaves him with a two-day
total 1-under 143. One shot back is Santa Fe’s Gabe Alcala. A Country Club member, he managed a 2-under 70, but walked off the course unhappy with his play.
“I broke par, which is OK,” he said. “I would like to have played better.”
Although he was consistent in most areas of his round, he decided to switch things up after the front nine by grabbing a golf cart from the pro shop. He walked the first half, a move that he said may have held up the pace for the rest of the group.
“I believe I get a better feel for the course when I walk it, but I was the only one doing it and I thought I should I should just grab a cart the rest of the way,” he said. “Not sure if that was the right thing or wrong thing. I don’t think it affected my play.”
Bartlett was in that group and the pace of play didn’t seem to matter to him. The vice president of sales for Las Campanas Realty and a former college player at Ole Miss, he admitted he had next to no knowledge of the Country Club’s layout until just recently.
“We just moved here 10 months ago and my first time out here was maybe last week,” he said. “I’ve only played Las Campanas a handful of times because of work. I’ve played Marty Sanchez 14 holes, I think, so not real familiar with anything out here.”
Bartlett characterized his play around the greens as conservative. Same, too, for his approach shots to the greens. It’s all a matter of not knowing the lay of the land as well as he would have liked.
“It’s a familiarity thing,” he said. “Not knowing how the greens play or what the pin locations mean makes me approach them a little easier.”
A former professional who played in one PGA Tour event as well as dozens of others on the lower levels, he appeared right at home despite being the proverbial fish out of water. Despite the fact there’s no running scoreboard or online presence to update players, he said every player has a natural feel for how things are unfolding.
“Anyone who tells you they’re not clear on where they stand, they’re basically lying,” he said. “I know how I’m doing and I know what the other players are up to. It’s always in the back of your mind so, yeah, I’m aware of what I need to do.”
There’s a three-way tie in the crowded Businessman’s Flight. The totals after two rounds have Jerry Alderete, Paul Ortiz and Jose Rivera all knotted at 6-over 150, four shots ahead of three other players sitting at 10-over 154.
Chris Morris leads the Seniors Flight for overall score with a 10-over 154. He had a one-stroke lead after Thursday’s opening round and now sits five shots clear of Bob Sherman’s 15-over 159.