Bonneville Golf Course proved to be difficult Monday for the golfers in the 112th Women’s State Amateur, with only Xena Motes managing to match the par of 72 in the first round.
Only six players broke 80 on the 6,263-yard layout, while anyone shooting 81 or better remained in decent shape to qualify for match play. After Tuesday's second round, the starting field of 53 will be reduced to 16.
Four-time champion Kelsey Chugg is in excellent position to advance, standing fifth with a 76 after being 5 over through 14 holes.
Motes, a former Ogden High School and Weber State golfer, made three birdies and three bogeys. She threatened to break par for the day, but bogeyed the par-4 No. 18. Bingham High School's Tess Blair, the Class 6A state tournament medalist, posted a 73 that included three birdies and four bogeys. Kerstin Fotu and Jessica Sloot are third at 74.
The large group tied for 12th at 81 includes Carly Dehlin, winner of the recent Women's Stroke Play Championship, and 14-year-old Grace Summerhays, whose brother Preston won last month's State Amateur.
Two rounds of match play will be staged Wednesday, with the semifinal and final matches scheduled Thursday.
WOMEN’S STATE AM
First round of stroke-play qualifying:
72 – Xena Motes. 73 – Tess Blair. 74 – Kerstin Fotu, Jessica Sloot. 76 – Kelsey Chugg. 78 – Kassidy Wallin. 80 – Carly Savage, Anna Kennedy, Abbey Porter, Jobi Einerson, Lindsay Wood. 81 – Annie Yang, Launa Wilson, Marissa Louder, Grace Summerhays, Carly Dehlin, Kaylee Shimizu, Whitney Banz, Madison Moss, Emma Winfree. 82 – Laura Gerner, Bailey Henley, Anna Lesa.
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