Fast BCC greens pose challenge for qualilfiers

By DEREK PYDA Eagle Staff Writer

July 12, 2006 Last Updated: July 12, 2006 01:57 PM Amateur

The 74 shot by Erin Thorne of Canada at Tuesday's qualifier at Butler Country Club was good enough for a first-place tie and for a berth in the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship.

PENN TWP — Erin Thorne and Katharina Schallenberg may both be from other countries.

But they sure felt at home Tuesday morning at Butler Country Club.

The two golfers, from Canada and Germany, respectively, finished tied for the top spot at the U.S. Women's Amateur Sectional Qualifier with a round of 74.

They join Kate Scarpetta and Amy Loughney, who each shot a 78, as the four golfers who will advance to the 2006 U.S. Women's Amateur Championship, which will be held Aug. 7 to 13 at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Oregon.

All golfers were required to tee off from the men's tees, but that was not a problem for the 28-golfer field — the fast greens were.

"They were amazingly fast," said Thorne, a 22-year old who lives in Bracebridge, Ontario, about two hours north of Toronto. "You just have to try and hit the ball in the middle of the fairway and hope for the best."

Thorne, who has been playing competitively for 11 years, was in the second group to tee off at 8:10 a.m. An hour after she finished, she took a peek at the leader board and found her name was still at the top.

"I don't know a lot of the players here today," she said. "But a 74 on a lengthy course like this, I was pretty confident that it would be in the top four at the end."

As it turned out, Schallenberg was the only player who could match Thorne's performance.

"I had difficulty adjusting to the speed of the greens," said Schallenberg, 25, who played briefly at the University of Oregon in 2000. "I ended up three-putting three different times, but I was still able to end with a 74 on a tough course."

The third-best score was actually turned in by Waynesburg's Rachel Rohanna.

The 15-year old, who will be a sophomore at Waynesburg High School this fall, turned in a 77. But she declined to take her spot at the championship event next month.

"I've already committed to play in the Westfield Junior Open in Ohio that same week," said Rohanna. "I didn't think I'd qualify today. I just wanted to shoot my best, but I never thought I'd end up in the top four."

Rohanna's decision made things much easier on Scarpetta and Loughney, who would have had to face each other in a playoff to decide the fourth and final advancing spot.

But now they both can plan on packing their bags for Oregon.

"I got started a bit later compared to some of these girls," said Loughney, a 20-year-old from Allentown who has been golfing for six years. "But I know I can play with all of them."

Loughney was one of the few players who wasn't bothered by the quick greens.

"I putted well today," she said. "But the rough was thick. That's where I got into a bit of trouble."

Scarpetta said the strongest part of her game has nothing to do with the mechanics of her swing or her ability to save par from a bunker.

"It's my tenacity to win," said the 17-year old from Scranton. "Everything else, you can't count on all the time. That's golf."

Area golfers included Pittsburgh's Katie Trotter (80) and Ali Bode (85), Aliquippa's Samantha Milosh (81) and Beaver Falls' Natalie Lueck (83).

Notes: This was the first U.S. Women's Amateur Championship Sectional Qualifier held at the Butler Country Club, though it has previously hosted sectional qualifying for the men's U.S. Open. The course's distance was 6,358 yards.

Following are results from Tuesday's U.S. Women's Amateur Championship Sectional Qualifier, held at Butler Country Club.1(tie)-Erin Thorne (Bracebridge, Ontario) 74 - Katharina Schallenberg (Germany) 74; 3-Rachel Rohanna (Waynesburg) 77; 4(tie)-Kate Scarpetta (Scranton) 78 - Amy Loughney (Allentown) 78; 6(tie)-Stephanie Doering (Germany) 79 - Kelly Baytos (Warren, Ohio) 79; 8(tie)-Katrin Wolfe (Johnstown) 80 - Lindsay Robinson (Huntington, W. Va.) 80 - Katie Trotter(Pittsburgh) 80; 11(tie)-Samantha Milosh (Aliquippa) 81 - Laura Ormson (Granger, Ind.) 81 - Cari Mozingo (Akron, Ohio) 81; 14(tie)-Ashleigh Korzack (Ontario, Canada) 82 - Jordan Craig (Connellsville) 82; 16(tie)-Laura Mengelkamp (Dover) 83 - Natalie Lueck (Beaver Falls) 83 - Brittany Jones (Oldsmar, Fla.) 83; 19(tie)-Ashley Young (Upper St. Clair) 85 - Kristin Tremoulis (Lima, Ohio) 85 - Julie Miller (Jeannette) 85 - Ali Bode (Pittsburgh) 85; 23-Moya Nickodem (Mentor, Ohio) 87; 24-Jennifer Lochhead (Ontario, Canada) 88; 25(tie)-Jessica Unger (Bethesda, Md.) 89 - Madeleine Lovette (Johnstown) 89; 27-Monica Stawovy (Belle Vernon) 94; 28-Felicia Ciotola (Canfield, Ohio) 95