Jackie Rogowicz (USGA Photo)
Jackie Rogowicz lives just about an hour from Stonewall. The former Penn State golfer grew up in Yardley, a small town bordering the Delaware River, and currently works in Horsham, Pa., a suburb of Philadelphia, as an investment analyst.
The 26-year-old, playing in her second Mid-Am after reaching the Round of 16 last year in her championship debut, has so far made the most of her home game.
One of 11 players from Pennsylvania in the 132-player field, Rogowicz will likely move into the match play portion of the championship as a co-medalist, putting together rounds of 71-68 on the North Course to finish at 3-under par, tied with Round 1 leader
Courtney Dow and
Jessica Spicer when play was suspended for the day due to darkness.
“I had some family and friends out following yesterday,” said Rogowicz, who has a friend who is a member at Stonewall and was able to come out and play the course twice prior to the championship. “I have my family here, my sister was around, so it’s nice being local.”
Despite a bogey on the second hole, Rogowicz went out in 32, carding an eagle 2 on the par-4 fourth hole (a 120-yard hole out) as well as three additional birdies.
“[Hole] two is a really hard pin, so I feel like bogey wasn’t terrible. Four was another tough pin. I wanted to get it back there because I knew it was on the top shelf, so it hit it and I didn’t even see it go in. A USGA official up there was like, ‘that went in!’ So that was cool.”
Rogowicz’ Round 2 score of 3-under par 68 is all the more impressive when you factor in a triple bogey on par-4 10th hole. After driving her tee shot into the fairway bunker, she caught the edge of the greenside bunker with her second shot. After her third shot rolled off the green, she failed to get up and down.
“After one big mistake, I was just hoping to make a couple pars and maybe another birdie,” said Rogowicz on her approach after the big number on 10. She would play her final eight holes in 2-under par.
Dow, 25, of Frisco, Texas, shot a 4-over 75 one day after her record-breaking 64, the lowest stroke play round in U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur history. She carded a double bogey, three bogeys and managed one lone birdie on the par-4 11th hole.
“All day I struggled a little,” said Dow. “Nothing was too good. Nothing was too bad. I had a few bad swings that really cost me, a couple misread putts, and nothing really saved me or got me any shots back once I made a mistake.”
Currently sitting T1 with Rogowicz and Dow is Spicer, 25, of Bahama, N.C. Spicer shot rounds of 69-70 to breeze into match play in her championship debut.
“I didn’t look at the scoreboard at all and I knew that [Courtney] shot a 64 yesterday, so I honestly didn’t figure that I was anywhere near [the lead]. I just crept in my putt on the last hole for par and then they told me that I was tied for first, so I was like, ‘okay, I’m glad that went in.’ It would obviously be a great honor if [the score] holds up, and if not, it’ll be a good seed for match play.”
After narrowly avoiding the storms that have been wreaking havoc up and down the East Coast on Saturday for Round 1, Stonewall showed it wasn’t immune to Mother Nature on Sunday, receiving nearly half an inch of rain to start the day, which came with a two-hour delay to tee times. When play was suspended at 7:10 p.m. ET, 32 players were still on the course.
ABOUT THE
U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur
The U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur originated in
1987 to provide a national competitive arena
for amateurs 25 and older. Besides the age
restriction, the event is open to those with a
USGA Handicap Index of 9.4 or lower. It is
one of 14 national championships conducted
annually by the USGA, 10 of which are strictly
for amateurs.
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