High Winds Stall Play, Isaac Among Leaders at Schooner Fall Classic
Sep 27, 2020 | Women's Golf
NORMAN, Okla. – It took gale force winds to slow down K-State senior Reid Isaac, literally blowing the ball off the green and forcing the suspension of play in the second round of the Schooner Fall Classic Sunday. Isaac was tied for second with six holes left to play, one of four players at 3-under in round two after shooting even-par 70 over the first 18 holes at the 6,094-yard Belmar Golf Club.
Isaac used eight birdies over the first 30 holes, including one to end the first round and four more on the back nine to jump start her second round, and sat among the tournament's leaders when play was suspended at 6:20 p.m. K-State was tied for 6th in the 11-team field, just three strokes out of third place when the stoppage occurred. The Wildcats were in the same position at the end of the first round after shooting 10-over 290.
"Coming off a birdie on my last hole of the first round just gave me that momentum that I needed to keep going for the second round," Isaac said. "Starting off with four birdies on those first few holes was awesome.
"Once those winds came in it was craziest thing I've ever experienced - we were all in shorts and short-sleeved shirts and within 30 seconds we were putting our pants on, our jackets, our pullovers, everything we could. Knowing at that point that everyone was going to be out there in those conditions, I knew it'd be important to hit every fairway and every green and make as many putts as possible, really focusing in on one putt at a time."
Texas Tech's Sofia Garcia, the No. 15 player in Golfstat's preseason rankings, shot an opening-round 66 (-4) and was even in the second round to hold a one-stroke lead on Isaac and a pair of Baylor golfers. Baylor led the team standings with a 273 (-7) in the opening round and was a combined 9-under, 11 strokes ahead of North Texas at the stoppage.
Isaac's consistent play led a K-State squad that overcame a sluggish start and slow pace of play to improve its numbers across the board from round one to near the end of round two. Heather Fortushniak shot an opening-round 73 (+3) and was one over through 12 in the second to climb six spots into a tie for 25th. Brooke Nolte carded a 2-over 72 in her K-State debut and Niamh McSherry was 1-over in the second round after carding an opening round 75 (+5) as both players sat in a tie for 36th at 6-over. K-State's Briony Bayles had the biggest potential jump from round one to two, shooting even through 12 holes after a 13-over 83 over the first 18.
"A couple of the ladies got off to a little of a rocky start early - we just hit it out of play a few times - but still we had a lot of good golf played," K-State head coach Kristi Knight said. "Reid played well, really solid, really all of them did. They settled in. Briony really turned it around, she finished off the first round strong and all the ladies hit a lot of good golf shots.
"We were just streaky on the greens, we would have a hole or two where we'd make two or three putts and then we'd have a stretch where we'd burn the edges. That's kind of the story of the day. Reid was probably the most consistent on the greens holing putts, she's hitting a lot of good shots. We're looking forward to tomorrow because we're giving ourselves opportunities."
Competition will resume with a shotgun start Monday morning at 8:30 a.m., followed by the third and final round. The tournament is free and open to the public with spectators asked to respect social distancing guidelines. Monday's final two holes were scheduled to be broadcast on Fox Sports Oklahoma during tape delayed broadcast on Tuesday morning (time TBD).
Isaac used eight birdies over the first 30 holes, including one to end the first round and four more on the back nine to jump start her second round, and sat among the tournament's leaders when play was suspended at 6:20 p.m. K-State was tied for 6th in the 11-team field, just three strokes out of third place when the stoppage occurred. The Wildcats were in the same position at the end of the first round after shooting 10-over 290.
"Coming off a birdie on my last hole of the first round just gave me that momentum that I needed to keep going for the second round," Isaac said. "Starting off with four birdies on those first few holes was awesome.
"Once those winds came in it was craziest thing I've ever experienced - we were all in shorts and short-sleeved shirts and within 30 seconds we were putting our pants on, our jackets, our pullovers, everything we could. Knowing at that point that everyone was going to be out there in those conditions, I knew it'd be important to hit every fairway and every green and make as many putts as possible, really focusing in on one putt at a time."
Texas Tech's Sofia Garcia, the No. 15 player in Golfstat's preseason rankings, shot an opening-round 66 (-4) and was even in the second round to hold a one-stroke lead on Isaac and a pair of Baylor golfers. Baylor led the team standings with a 273 (-7) in the opening round and was a combined 9-under, 11 strokes ahead of North Texas at the stoppage.
Isaac's consistent play led a K-State squad that overcame a sluggish start and slow pace of play to improve its numbers across the board from round one to near the end of round two. Heather Fortushniak shot an opening-round 73 (+3) and was one over through 12 in the second to climb six spots into a tie for 25th. Brooke Nolte carded a 2-over 72 in her K-State debut and Niamh McSherry was 1-over in the second round after carding an opening round 75 (+5) as both players sat in a tie for 36th at 6-over. K-State's Briony Bayles had the biggest potential jump from round one to two, shooting even through 12 holes after a 13-over 83 over the first 18.
"A couple of the ladies got off to a little of a rocky start early - we just hit it out of play a few times - but still we had a lot of good golf played," K-State head coach Kristi Knight said. "Reid played well, really solid, really all of them did. They settled in. Briony really turned it around, she finished off the first round strong and all the ladies hit a lot of good golf shots.
"We were just streaky on the greens, we would have a hole or two where we'd make two or three putts and then we'd have a stretch where we'd burn the edges. That's kind of the story of the day. Reid was probably the most consistent on the greens holing putts, she's hitting a lot of good shots. We're looking forward to tomorrow because we're giving ourselves opportunities."
Competition will resume with a shotgun start Monday morning at 8:30 a.m., followed by the third and final round. The tournament is free and open to the public with spectators asked to respect social distancing guidelines. Monday's final two holes were scheduled to be broadcast on Fox Sports Oklahoma during tape delayed broadcast on Tuesday morning (time TBD).
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