U.S. Women’s Am: Abramson, Smith miss cut

While a 13-year-old from China continues to steal all the headlines at the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Chambers Bay outside of Tacoma, Wash., a high school senior from Massachusetts forced the action to extra holes before being eliminated.

Emma Abramson, who just last week won the Mass Golf Girls’ Junior Amateur, backed up a 73 with Tuesday’s 77 and was one of eight players at 150 who played off for the final four spots into match play. She bogeyed both playoff holes – the par-4 10th and par-3 17th – and thus missed the cut.

Abramson, who attends Sandwich High School and has verbally committed to Williams College, was comfortably inside the cut before a double-bogey on her 13th hole and a bogey on the 18th.

Molly Smith, a senior at Westford Academy, bounced back with a 2-over 75 for 152 total, but missed the playoff by two strokes. She hurt herself with a quadruple-bogey in Round 1 and two doubles in Round 2.

Meanwhile, at the top of the leaderboard, Alice Ziyi Zhao has made a whopping 14 birdies in rounds of 67-69 to get halfway home at 10-under. That shares medalist honors with Lanny Frye of Kentucky (68-68) and LSU standout Latanna Stone (71-65).

Pros: Four-way tie atop R.I. Open

As pro debuts go, Davis Chatfield of Attleboro, Mass., performed rather admirably. Having recently completed his collegiate career at Notre Dame, Chatfield shot 4-under 66 at North Kingstown GC to share the first-round lead of the Rhode Island Open.

Corey Eisenband, Timothy Umphrey, and Ian Thimble matched Chatfield’s 66. Umphrey hails from Northborough, Mass., and played at UConn. Thimble, former winner of the Massachusetts Open, lives in Boston and plays out of George Wright GC.

Defending champion Matt Shubley and Ryan Davis had 67s to sit one off the lead.

The championship will conclude today.

Qualifiers: Some misses, some hits

Ah, the names you come across while scanning a lengthy list of qualifying tournaments. In Oklahoma City, Art Sellinger – arguably the man who made long-driving a spectacle to be watched – shot 74 and was second alternate in a U.S. Senior Amateur qualifier.

Then there are the familiar names who’ve earned their way into the U.S. Senior Women’s Open. Catrin Nilsmark of Sweden was medalist with 73 and Italy’s Stefania Croce second with 76 in Springfield, Va. And in Rye, N.Y., Wendy Modic of Wilton, Conn., shot 76 for medalist honors and Chicopee, Mass., native Michelle Dobek had 77 to earn the second spot.

Next week: “Power Fades” will not be published. It will return on August 24.