(Dupont, WA)
Round of 16 Matches
Today, 16 women started Tuesday morning competing in the Round of 16. It was significantly cooler on Tuesday, many players opting for pants and long sleeves in the morning competition. Despite the chilly weather, Angela Zhang/Alice Ziyi Zhao were on fire on the putting green. The side was a combined 9-under, Zhang herself was 8-under. The teens were able to cruise to a 3 & 2 win over Anna Kate Nichols/Avery Weed. Zhang/Zhao had a long day yesterday as they needed 21 holes to win in the Round of 32 over Malak Bouraeda/Morgan Miller.
Defending champs, Thienna Huynh/Sara Im took care of business with a 4 & 3 win. They are the highest seed remaining as the 3 seed. 16 seed Tiffany Le/Kate Villegas upset the 1 seed Savannah Barber/Alexa Saldana 1 up to advance to the Quarterfinals. 15 seed Gianna Clemente/Avery Zweig upset the 2 seed Shannon Aubert/Calli Ringsby 5 & 4, with the biggest victory of the Round of 16 matches. Also, the 4 seed was unable to advance to the Quarters. Kaitlyn Schroeder/Bailey Shoemaker couldn’t get by 20 seed Ami Gianchandani/Kaitlyn Lee, as they lost 4 & 3. The 1, 2, 4 and 7 seeds all lost Tuesday morning, proving once again how difficult and deep the field is in Dupont this week.
Sydney Hackett/Melanie Walker won 2 Up over Lindsay McGrath/Alissa Xu. Leigh Chien/Anna Huang cruised to a 4 & 3 win over Emerson Blair/Sophie Linder in the morning. Vanessa Borovilos/Cara Heisterkamp had a wild back and forth match which saw them narowlly edge Anna Davis/Kiara Romero with Heisterkamp making birdie on the 18th hole to win the match.
Quote of the Morning
“No one was beating you guys today.” One of the caddies for the Nichols/Weed side immediately after Zhang/Zhao won told the young stars that. With how well the 14-year-olds were playing this morning, I’d agree with him.
Quarterfinal Matches
The clouds went away for the afternoon, making it a perfect sunny Tuesday for the Quarterfinals. The remaining sides had roughly an hour wait from the conclusion of the morning matches before teeing it up again for the afternoon. This was the first day of playing more than 18 scheduled holes.
Tiffany Le/Kate Villegas vs Sydney Hackett/Melanie Walker
Only three holes on the front 9 were tied in this fiery match, with Le/Villegas at one point having a 3 Up lead after winning holes 4, 5, and 7. Hackett/Walker would make birdie on the par 5 8th hole to bring their deficit to 2 Down. Le/Villegas birdied 10 and 12 to get their largest lead of the match at 4 Up. With their backs against the wall, Hackett/Walker made a clutch birdie on 12 to get to 3 Down. Le/Villegas would answer immediately with a birdie on the tough par 3, 14th hole to get back to 4 Up and really put the pressure on Hackett/Walker. They would tie the 15th which would give Le/Villegas a 4 & 3 win. They were the first side to advance to the Semifinals.
Ami Gianchandani/Kaitlyn Lee vs Angela Zhang/Alice Ziyi Zhao
Gianchandani/Lee came out hot out of the gate. The side birdied the first three holes, winning holes 2 and 3 to quickly take a 2 Up lead. Zhang/Zhao would answer with birdies on the 7th and 8th holes to tie the match. From holes 9-13, the sides tied every hole. On 14, Gianchandani nearly dunked her tee shot and the side birdied the par 3 to take a 1 Up lead. The resiliant teens fought back, birdieing 15 and 16 to take a 1 Up lead. After trading pars on 17, it came down to 18. Both sides had one ball make the fairway and one miss. On the approach shots, one side’s ball made the green and one side’s missed. Angela Zhang hit a marvelous approach shot from the right rough with the ball just above her feet. Gianchandani hit her approach shot just inside of Zhang’s, setting up a de facto putting contest for the match win. Lee and Zhao both chipped up and Lee’s par was conceded while Zhao marked her ball after her chip. When it was their turn, Zhang/Zhao opted for Zhao to hit her par putt but it lipped out. Zhang had her opportunity to win the match with her birdie putt from about 15 feet out. Amidst the silence, Zhang struck her putt but left it just short, setting up Gianchandani for a birdie putt to extend the match. Gianchandani, with her glove still on as she always does, hit her birdie putt and tried to will it to stay up. It died to the right and the match would be won by Zhang/Zhao 1 Up. With smiles on their faces, Zhang/Zhao looked more relieved than anything as they live to play on Championship Wednesday.
Thienna Huynh/Sara Im vs Leigh Chien/Anna Huang
This was the most even match on the front 9. 7 of the first 9 holes were tied with Huynh/Im birdieing the par 5, 5th hole for a 1 Up lead but Chien/Huang countered with a birdie of their own on the par 4, 7th to tie the match up once again. The sides would tie from 8-10 but on the 11th, Huynh/Im made birdie to go 1 Up. The sides would tie the next two holes but starting on the tough 14th, Chien/Huang found their rhythm. They birdied 14 to tie the match, then followed up with a birdie on 15 to take a 1 Up lead. Hyunh/Im would get an eagle on 16, the only side in the afternoon to do so, to bring the match to tied again. Chien/Huang had an answer for the reigning champs, birdieing the 17th to take a 1 Up lead heading to the final hole. On 18, Huynh/Im both couldn’t make birdie and conceded the par to Chien/Huang. Chien/Huang would win 1 Up to advance to the Semifinals in a thrilling match victory.
Gianna Clemente/Avery Zweig vs Vanessa Borovilos/Cara Heisterkamp
The first three holes were tied but after that, chaos ensued as the sides traded winning holes with Clemente/Zweig winning four out of five holes to give them a 2 Up lead making the turn. The hole winning fiasco continued as Clemente/Zweig birdied the 10th to go 3 Up. Borovilas/Heisterkamp answered with a birdie at the short par 4, 11th before Clemente/Zweig responded with a birdie on 12. Borovilos/Heisterkamp would put get another birdie on 13. Finally, on 14 the sides tied, doing the same on the 15th as well On 16, Clemente/Zweig were able to make birdie and Borovilos/Heisterkamp couldn’t get a four on the par 5, giving Clemente/Zweig a 3 & 2 win.
Quote of the Afternoon
“Ow, my jaw.” – Laughing while getting accidental friendly fire, Leigh Chien took an arm to the face in their post-match hug from her partner, Anna Huang.
Match of the Day
Anna Davis/Kiara Romero vs Vanessa Borovilos/Cara Heisterkamp was an instant classic. This was the final match of the Round of 16 and it proved to be a dandy. Only one of the first five holes was tied before Borovilos/Heisterkamp won the 8th hole to take a 1 Up lead. Davis/Romero came storming back, winning holes 10, 14 and 15 to tie the match. Borovilos/Heisterkamp answered with a birdie on 16 to take back a 1 Up lead. Davis/Romero countered with a birdie on 17 to tie the match again. Then on 18, Heisterkamp had a birdie to win the match. She sunk the putt and let out a vociferous fist pump and yell, knowing she had won the match for her side.
Semifinals/Championship Matches
Starting at 7 am, the first Semifinal will take place between Tiffany Le/Kate Villegas and Angela Zhang/Alice Ziyi Zhao. At 7:15, the second Semifinal will tee off between Gianna Clemente/Avery Zweig and Leigh Chien/Anna Huang.
The Championship Match will start at approximately 12:30 PM.
For live scoring, click here.