Rohanna settles down on back nine
Rachel Rohanna had a tough start in the opening round of the Coates Golf Championship Presented by R+L Carriers Wednesday, but the Waynesburg Central grad rebounded in the back nine of the Golden Ocala Golf & Equestrian Club to finish at 2-over 74.
Rohanna was sitting right at the cut after the first round in a logjam in 77th place, with a few golfers still on the course late in the first round. Ha Na Jang leads after the first round at 7-under 65.
She opened the first round on No. 10 and promptly carded a bogey-5 to start the day at 1-over. Rohanna added bogeys on her third and ninth holes to go out in 3-over 36.
“I made some stupid mistakes on the first couple holes,” explained Rohanna, adding, “It was a variety of stupid mistakes.
“On No. 12 (her third hole), I had 93 yards to the pin, a little down hill. It was a downhill lie. I felt very confident and comfortable (with the shot). I bladed the ball over the green. I chipped it up to 15 feet and missed the putt.”
As for her third bogey, Rohanna said, “I 3-putted from 20 feet away. I don’t do that too often.”
Rohanna’s fortunes turned around after she made the turn.
“When I made the turn, there was a crowd at the No. 1 tee box. I like when there’s more people around. I hit a great drive. Then I hit a good approach on No. 2. Things started clicking,” said Rohanna.聽
Rohanna carded her lone birdie on No. 6, her 15th hole.
Rohanna hit 6-of-14 fairways and 13-of-18 greens in regulation. She needed 33 putts to close out her round and had an average driving distance of 266.50 yards.
Rohanna gave herself a good grade on her round, saying, “I played better than when I shot 5-under last week (in the second round of the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Championship). I worked on putting 15-footers after the round. I wanted to get some of them to fall.”
The first round took awhile to complete, and with rain in the forecast, the second round promises to be even longer, especially since Rohanna is scheduled to tee off in the afternoon.
“It’s supposed to rain all day. Usually, it’s 15 minutes and then it’s gone,” said Rohanna. “If the weather comes in, the ball won’t fly as far and the ground is a little softer. I hope the play the course longer, then I can tee it up and have shorter irons into the green.
“If it’s windy, who knows what happens. Today, they were helping winds.”
Rain, wind, whatever, Rohanna said it’s all part of the job.
“The afternoon tee times, it’s tough for us. But, (weather) is part of the job. We’re all in the same boat,” said Rohanna. “The hassle is having to come out the next morning (after a suspension of play).”
DIVOTS: The tournament is being broadcasted on the Golf Channel, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. today, 8-10 p.m. on Friday, and 3-5 p.m. Saturday. … The tournament began on Wednesday to avoid conflict with the Super Bowl.