K-State Settling in with Room to Climb at Meadow Club
Mar 09, 2020 | Women's Golf
FAIRFAX, Calif. – Reid Isaac made a decision to play more aggressively in the second round of the Juli Inkster Invitational and it showed on the scorecard. After shooting a 77 to open play Monday, Isaac fired five birdies while turning in a 2-under 70, the second-best score in round two, and sat just outside the top-10 along with teammate Niamh McSherry at 3-over 147.
Isaac keyed a six-stroke improvement for the Wildcats, who shot 302-296—598 (+22), and moved up one spot to ninth in the team standings at the end of the first day on the par-72, 6,157-yard Meadow Club. Isaac and McSherry, who continued her consistently good play with rounds of 73 and 74, were tied for 12th, just two strokes out of the top-10 and five strokes out of the top-5.
"Reid played very well in the afternoon," K-State head coach Kristi Knight said. "She told me halfway through the first round that she made a decision to fire at the flag more, go at the hole more. She felt she was being too conservative, too fearful. She hit a lot of quality shots, really appeared to have a good feel for the greens."
"My putter got hot in the second round and I changed my strategy to be more aggressive and go for most pins," Isaac added. "I left myself way too many long putts in the first round, but I didn't have that issue in the second round. It feels good and satisfying to finally turn in a score that reflects how hard I've been working."
Isaac and the 'Cats were slow from the start, although she birdied No. 13 to go 1-under, she doubled No. 17 and her score ballooned to 6-over before a birdie to close the opening round on par-5, no. 9. That birdie would be the first of four over the next five holes.
Likewise, the Wildcats seemed to settle in during the second round and were near the middle of the 13-team field thanks to lower scores from Isaac and senior Chloe Weir, but a fine round hit a snag when Weir lost a ball and got stuck in a hazard on No. 9, rising from even-par to 4-over for the round over the final two holes. Weir and sophomore Heather Fortushniak were tied for 38th after the first day, each turning in 8-over 152. Briony Bayles was T58th after shooting 77-78—157 (+13). Playing as individuals, Wildcats Darby Deans and Haley Vargas were T64th (14-over 158) and T70th (23-over 167), respectively.
"We just got out of the gate kind of slow with some three putts," Knight said. "As the day went on I saw a lot better distance control. Niamh was pretty steady all day, left a few shots out there on the green. Chloe played really well in second round, had one bad hole, a couple of swings got her. That's golf, frustrating as it is. You hate to see that for a player, she'll bounce back.
"As the day went on, I saw a little bit more comfort level on the greens, that'll be good going into tomorrow. I liked how the day went on, everybody hung in there, had good attitudes, didn't get down on themselves and kept playing. I'm looking forward to watching them play tomorrow. If we go out and play well tomorrow, we're in position to have a solid finish. It's just about climbing the leaderboard, giving yourself opportunities."
Washington State led California by a stroke for the tournament lead at 6-over 582. Though well off the lead pace, K-State was within 10 strokes of a top-5 team finish. Individually, Cal's Katherine Zhu, ranked No. 97 by Golfstat, led the field after shooting 71-69—140 (-4). She shot one of four rounds in the 60s over the first 36 holes, including Washington golfer Alice Duan's tournament-low 68 in the first round.
Tournament play concludes Tuesday with 18 holes, starting with an 8:30 a.m. (PT) shotgun start. Hole by hole live scoring is available on Golfstat.com.
Isaac keyed a six-stroke improvement for the Wildcats, who shot 302-296—598 (+22), and moved up one spot to ninth in the team standings at the end of the first day on the par-72, 6,157-yard Meadow Club. Isaac and McSherry, who continued her consistently good play with rounds of 73 and 74, were tied for 12th, just two strokes out of the top-10 and five strokes out of the top-5.
"Reid played very well in the afternoon," K-State head coach Kristi Knight said. "She told me halfway through the first round that she made a decision to fire at the flag more, go at the hole more. She felt she was being too conservative, too fearful. She hit a lot of quality shots, really appeared to have a good feel for the greens."
"My putter got hot in the second round and I changed my strategy to be more aggressive and go for most pins," Isaac added. "I left myself way too many long putts in the first round, but I didn't have that issue in the second round. It feels good and satisfying to finally turn in a score that reflects how hard I've been working."
Isaac and the 'Cats were slow from the start, although she birdied No. 13 to go 1-under, she doubled No. 17 and her score ballooned to 6-over before a birdie to close the opening round on par-5, no. 9. That birdie would be the first of four over the next five holes.
Likewise, the Wildcats seemed to settle in during the second round and were near the middle of the 13-team field thanks to lower scores from Isaac and senior Chloe Weir, but a fine round hit a snag when Weir lost a ball and got stuck in a hazard on No. 9, rising from even-par to 4-over for the round over the final two holes. Weir and sophomore Heather Fortushniak were tied for 38th after the first day, each turning in 8-over 152. Briony Bayles was T58th after shooting 77-78—157 (+13). Playing as individuals, Wildcats Darby Deans and Haley Vargas were T64th (14-over 158) and T70th (23-over 167), respectively.
"We just got out of the gate kind of slow with some three putts," Knight said. "As the day went on I saw a lot better distance control. Niamh was pretty steady all day, left a few shots out there on the green. Chloe played really well in second round, had one bad hole, a couple of swings got her. That's golf, frustrating as it is. You hate to see that for a player, she'll bounce back.
"As the day went on, I saw a little bit more comfort level on the greens, that'll be good going into tomorrow. I liked how the day went on, everybody hung in there, had good attitudes, didn't get down on themselves and kept playing. I'm looking forward to watching them play tomorrow. If we go out and play well tomorrow, we're in position to have a solid finish. It's just about climbing the leaderboard, giving yourself opportunities."
Washington State led California by a stroke for the tournament lead at 6-over 582. Though well off the lead pace, K-State was within 10 strokes of a top-5 team finish. Individually, Cal's Katherine Zhu, ranked No. 97 by Golfstat, led the field after shooting 71-69—140 (-4). She shot one of four rounds in the 60s over the first 36 holes, including Washington golfer Alice Duan's tournament-low 68 in the first round.
Tournament play concludes Tuesday with 18 holes, starting with an 8:30 a.m. (PT) shotgun start. Hole by hole live scoring is available on Golfstat.com.
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