Aug 4, 2009 3 min read

Rachel Rohanna was sitting in a good position after she completed her first nine holes Monday, but the Waynesburg Central graduate lost a little steam over the last nine at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship to finish with a 6-over 77 a Old Warson Country Club in St. Louis, Mo. She is tied with a dozen players in 72nd place, but is just one shot behind a group tied in 57th. The top 64 players advance through to Wednesday’s match play. Connellsville’s Jordan Craig had a rough opening round, shooting a 12-over 83. The Wake Forest University grad is tied for 139th after shooting 7-over 43 on the back nine, her opening holes, and 5-over 40 on the front.

Rohanna started on the back nine as well, opening with a birdie on No. 10, a 391-yard par-4. After a couple pars, she gave the shot back with a bogey on No. 13, a 158-yard par-3. A series of pars gave way to a bogey on No. 18, a 412-yard par-4.

Rohanna started her back nine with a par on No. 1, and then went bogey-5, bogey-4, bogey-5, and bogey-5 over the next four holes. She added a bogey on No. 7, a 141-yard par-3, for a 5-over 40 on the front nine.

“I was leaving putts short. My putting got much worse on the second nine,” said Rohanna. “I think I had 20 or 21 putts on my second nine. I was expecting nothing higher than a 74.

“I was giving myself so long putts. I had three 3-putts. I overanalyzed my putts. That’s something I need to work on. There was nothing wrong with my stroke.”

The one thing Rohanna didn’t attribute her putting woes to was nervousness.

“This is the biggest tournament I’ve played, but I wasn’t really that nervous,” said Rohanna. “I’ve been in three straight tournaments and haven’t been home in a while. I am getting a little homesick.”

Rohanna went off in the afternoon Monday, and will take to No. 1 tee today at 8:15 a.m. She believes the timing will help her score in the second round. Craig will tee off the first hole 11 minutes later.

“The greens were much slower and were chewed up in the afternoon,” explained Rohanna. “I hope things will be smoother (with the earlier tee time).”

Rohanna doesn’t expect to leave any shots on the course as she attempts to qualify for match play.

“It’s all or nothing. I want to get as many birdies as I can. Sometimes when I take the risk, I do better,” said Rohanna.

“I think if I can break 70, that’s not out of reach at all. If I play as well as I can, I can shoot 65. If I can putt, if one falls in they usually pick up (throughout the round).”

Craig had problems off the tee in her early holes, and she didn’t right the ship until the final nine holes.

“I started hitting to the right,” said Craig. “I couldn’t get a good feel for the greens. The greens are pretty fast, but they’re soft. I had like five 3-putts. Getting the speed down was more difficult than I though. I didn’t have a lot of tap-ins.

“I started hitting the ball better on the back nine (the front nine of the course). I had a lot of birdie chances on the front.”

It’s a tough uphill climb, but Craig plans to give it her best shot in today’s round.