Rohanna misses cut at US Women’s Am by one stroke
Rachel Rohanna felt she had played a similar round already this summer, with the same results.
The Waynesburg Central graduate went from nearly holing out for birdie on the final hole to finishing with bogey, thereby missing the playoff for the final spot in the 64-golfer match play field of the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship by one stroke.
Rohanna finished with a two-round total of 8-over 150 at Rhode Island Country Club in Barrington, R.I.
She opened the second day with a birdie on No. 10, but had consecutive bogeys on No. 12-14. As she did in the first round, Rohanna finished out the back nine even-par to go out in 2-over 37.
Rohanna birdied No. 2 (her 11th hole), but gave the stroke back with a bogey on No. 3. She used “roller-coaster” to describe Monday’s round, and Rohanna wasn’t able to get off the ride in the final round.
After the bogey on her 12th hole, she went par-bogey-par-bogey-birdie, needing, at worse, a par to be in contention.
“When I made birdie on my 17th hole, my mom started to cheer. I knew she was looking at the scoreboard,” said Rohanna. “I figured I needed to par the last hole. A birdie would be better.
“I decided to go with driver. On my second shot, I went with an extra club and choked down, and missed the green. I holed out and it bounced out. I missed the putt (about a 20-footer), and made bogey.”
The events of the final hole typlified her tournament.
“I can’t expect to make a 20-foot flop shot (to hole out on the final hole),” explained Rohanna. “I had another penalty shot. I missed 4-footers. I had wedge into the green and ended up with a 3-putt. Things I would never normally do, but I usually recovered.”
The coulda-woulda-shoulda hole was No. 12. She played the 345-yard, par-4 in 3-over.
“I wish I had it over again,” said Rohanna. “It’s a 1-under kinda hole.”
Rohanna’s summer ended in the same manner it started. She lost in a playoff to advance to match play in the U.S. Women’s Public Links, and then had a poor final nine holes the next week to miss the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open by four strokes.
She’s not quite sure why.
“It seems it’s the same tournament over and over again. I would get in to trouble, and I’d have real good shots to get out of trouble,” said Rohanna. “I really stayed in it, played an even keel.
“The birdie opportunities, I played poorly. I played the tough holes well.”
Rohanna has a couple weeks before she returns to Ohio State University for her junior year. She looks to the fall schedule to get all aspects of her game in line.
“Things aren’t piecing together like last year. I’m trying to press too much,” Rohanna said. “It’s a really slow climb right now. It just takes that one shot or one round.”
DIVOTS: Korea’s Jihee Kim and New Zealand’s Lydia Ko shared the medalist honors by finishing at 6-under 136. … Elyse Smidinger, of Crofton, Md., won the 5-way playoff for the final berth into match play.