PUEBLO, Colo. -- Texas sophomore women's golfer Kelley Louth is tied for 20th after the first round of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links (WAPL) on Tuesday, June 20 in Pueblo, Colo. The Walking Stick Golf Course (Par 72, 6,263 yards) is the 2006 host for the six-day championship.
There are 144 individuals competing from 40 sectional events at the WAPL. The event is open to female golfers who have been public-course players since Jan. 1 of the current championship year and whose USGA Handicap Index does not exceed 18.4. The WAPL is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the USGA, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.
In a USGA amateur championship, there are two days of stroke play qualifying to determine the 64 players who will make it to match play. The players are seeded according to how they played during stroke play. The winners of each match keep advancing until there is only one player left. With 64 players, this occurs after six matches.
Louth (Victoria, Texas), making her first career trip to the WAPL, opened her first round with eight consecutive pars before posting a bogey-five on the par-four 18th. Louth started on No. 10 and finished one-over par (73) to tie her season-low single-round score previously recorded at the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic (April 9-10). She finished with 17 pars and one bogey for the round.
After the first round, Hannah Jun of San Diego, Calif. leads the WAPL after shooting an opening round 66 (-66). Mina Harigae (Monterey, Calif.) is in second with a five-under 67 and Allison Goodman (San Diego, Calif.) sits in third at four-under par (68).
Louth will play her second round starting at the No. 1 tee at 1:26 p.m. (MDT) on Wednesday, June 21. All qualifiers play 36 holes of stroke play qualifying for the 64 person match play championship. Match play begins on Thursday (June 22) followed by the quarterfinals and semifinals on Saturday (June 24) and the 36-hole final is held on Sunday (June 25).
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