Hong, Gregory enjoy challenge of first USGA championship, hope for more
Complete results and live scoring
By Ken MacLeod
OKLAHOMA CITY – The first USGA event for the Norman duo of Juliana Hong and Harlow Gregory did not go exactly as planned, but both should benefit long-term from the lessons learned in testing their games against a field of elite players in championship conditions.
After two late double bogeys derailed their first round Saturday in the 10th U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball at Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club, the duo came into the second round at 4-over and needing to shoot a 3-under round or so to make the cut for match play in the 64-team field.
Instead, Sunday was another day of frustration on the firm and fast greens and healthy rough on the Perry Maxwell design. Each player only hit one green in regulation on the front nine, but they survived at 2-over with some excellent scrambling.
Walking to the 10th hole, the 14-year-old Harlow, who last week as a freshman won the Class 6A state championship at Meadowbrook Country Club, told this reporter, “Don’t get bored, I’m about to turn this around.”
Pretty confident, considering she had double bogeyed her two previous holes. But she did hit some magnificent shots on the back nine, unfortunately only capitalizing one time for birdie. They were at 1-over for the round and both had birdie looks on the par-3 15th. When those didn’t drop, making the cut became nearly impossible.
They eventually made a bogy on 17 and double bogey on 18 to shoot 4-over again and finish well back of the 1-over cut line. Janae and Jasmine Leovao, along with Oregon natives Natalie Yen and Asia Young, finished 7-under-par 135 after two rounds of stroke play to earn co-medalist honors.
“It was playing really hard, greens and fairways were rolling fast,” Gregory said. “But neither of us played our best. We were scrambling the whole time. I’m sure that’s the worst Juliana has seen me play. We didn’t have our A game for sure.”
“The greens were really hard to hold, especially if you were in the rough,” said Hong, who finished third in the state high school championship. “If you were in the rough, it was over. We scrambled the entire time. I think we came in thinking we could make the cut if we just played solid.”
Two teams that did make the cut for match play with Oklahoma ties are the sister duos of Avery and Emerie Schartz and Meg and Kate Tilma, both from Wichita and all frequent competitors on the Oklahoma Junior Golf Tour. The Schartz sisters shot rounds of 69-70 and were tied for eighth at 3-under, while the Tilmas shot 75-68 to make the cut on the number at 1-over. Former Edmond resident Evyn Cannon and partner Dresden Bounds shot 72-72 to miss the cut by a shot.
The tournament continues with the first round of match play today. Full coverage is at www.usga.org. The second and third rounds are Tuesday with the semifinals and finals on Wednesday. Admission is free and there is free parking at the Renaissance Waterford Hotel at 6300 Waterford Blvd.