By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
A rough final round cost Burlington’s Kayla Smith a spot in the next round of qualifying for the LPGA Tour.
Smith was in good shape through the first three days of the LPGA qualifier at Plantation Golf and Country Club in Venice, Florida, before finishing with Friday’s 3-over-par 75.
That left Smith tied for 59th place at 2-under 286, missing the mark by two strokes to move onto the final qualifying stage. There were 194 entrants.
Smith, a former Williams golfer who finished her collegiate career with UNC in the spring, had been tied for 19th place after both the second and third rounds. Smith had rounds of 71, 69, 71, and 75.
Golfers tied for 35th or better advanced, meaning 43 total who were at 4-under 284 or better. France’s Adela Cernousek, an individual NCAA champion for Texas A&M, and England’s Mimi Rhodes tied for medalist at 14-under 274.
The qualifier was played on the club’s two courses. Smith had a rough front nine in the last round with five bogeys and one birdie for 40. She turned it around by going 3 under for the next seven holes before finishing with a pair of bogeys on the club’s Bobcat Course.
The qualifying event was postponed for a week because of concerns related to Hurricane Milton, which caused major disruptions in the area and the eye of the storm made landfall within 20 miles of the course.
The final qualifying event comes December 5-9 on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail and Magnolia Grove Golf Course’s Falls and Crossings courses in Mobile, Alabama.
Tournament results
Craig Cathey of Burlington placed 12th at 5 over 149 (72, 77) in the North Carolina Super Senior Championship earlier this month at Forest Oaks Country Club in Greensboro.
Graham’s Mike Roshelli tied for 13th at 6 over (74, 76). Macon Moye of Southern Pines shot rounds of 73 and 65 for 6-under 138 and a two-shot victory among 48 golfers.
In the 70-and-older division, Burlington’s Ray Womack tied for 24th at 155 (76, 79). There were 42 entrants, with Durham’s Don Slater the winner at 1-under 143 (69, 74).
- Area golfers didn’t advance to the final round of the North Carolina Four-Ball Championship earlier this month at North Carolina State’s Lonnie Poole Country Club in Raleigh,
Matthew Crenshaw of Burlington and Jonathan Jackson of Chapel Hill missed the cut by two strokes at 141 (66, 75). Burlington’s Connor Massey and Raleigh’s Kevin Atamian combined for 143 as did Mebane’s Jason Crowe and McLeansville’s Ryan Hodges. The entry of Mebane’s Clay Watkins and Rougemont’s Michael Wicker was at 145.
