Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 10, 1994 TAG: 9408110024
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: N-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HOT SPRINGS LENGTH: Medium
In an agonizing finish to her first trip to the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship, Shirley came up one shot short of qualifying among the low 64 players for today's start of match play at The Homestead's Cascades Course.
One shot. A flubbed chip here, a blown 2-footer there. Any way you count it, it hurts, the Salem teen-ager confessed.
``So close, yet so far away,'' said Shirley, whose second-round 81 left her with a 36-hole total of 158, one over the cut line of 157.
``The only thing I can blame is my putter. It's the big reason I'm out of here. I had 39 putts and five three-putts today. If I could have made a 5-footer, I'd be sticking around.
``I'm sure I will play this over in my mind a thousand times thinking about where I could have cut one more shot. This hurts. Just coming close is no consolation to me.''
Shirley, who opened with a 77 Monday, never got it going Tuesday. Her card was littered with 12 bogeys, nearly half coming as a result of three-putts.
Her only birdie came at her 18th hole (No. 9), but it was too little, too late.
``I don't feel like I choked,'' she said. ``Hey, I was having fun out there. I just couldn't buy a putt.''
Shirley now has Carolina on her mind: She leaves on golf scholarship to the University of North Carolina on Aug. 20.
The best story of qualifying also came courtesy of the Tar Heel State.
Lori Teague, a 31-year-old Hickory, N.C., resident who didn't take up golf until four years ago, finished as the qualifying tri-medalist at 1-over 143 with collegians Leta Lindley of Arizona and Erika Wicoff of Indiana.
``Not many people here know who I am,'' said Teague, who runs a driving range, 9-hole course and two golf shops with her husband, Don, a long-time Carolina club pro.
``I was standing near the scoreboard a few minutes ago and I heard one guy say, `Who in the hell is Lori Teague?' I said, `I am.' And he asked, 'What college do you go to?'''
Teague played tennis in college at Appalachian State, thinking she'd one day ``become the next Chris Evert.''
``I've found my niche, I guess,'' said Teague, whose wild second-round 71 included a tournament-high seven birdies, seven bogeys and only four pars. ``This is awesome, let me tell you. I've always been a pretty good athlete, but this is it - my No. 1 athletic achievement.''
Lindley, a 22-year-old four-time All-American at the University of Arizona, backed up a first-round 71 with a solid 72.
``I hit it straight, keep it in play, and I'm a good lag putter,'' Lindley said. ``Those are three things you have to do well to play this golf course. Therefore, I'm pretty confident about my chances this week.''
Wicoff, like Teague, is just happy to be here. The 20-year-old Indiana University junior never dreamed of making such a big impact in her first U.S. Am.
``I just wanted to be one of the top 64,'' she said. ``I can't believe I'm one of three people leading. I'm so excited I just want to call my parents right now and scream.''
Japan's Riko Higashio is fourth at 144, and 1973 champion Carol Semple Thompson and Scotland's Catriona Matthew lead a fivesome at 145.
Defending champion Jill McGill and Italian Caterina Quintarelli, who led the field after first-round 70s, had a second-round struggle.
McGill soared to an 80, losing eight shots to par on three holes. Her round was wrecked by a quadruple-bogey 7 at No.4 and and double bogeys at Nos.9 and 16.
Quintarelli, 28, a quarterfinalist in two of the previous three U.S. Amateurs, bogeyed two of the first three holes en route to a 75.
SAND BLASTS: The eight members of the Britain-Ireland Curtis Cup team, who were given special exemptions into the tournament, made the cut with room to spare. The only member of the U.S. team who failed to qualify was West Virginian Stephanie Sparks, who withdrew Monday because of tendinitis in her right arm. ... Scotland's Janice Moodie, whose first-round 78 included a quintuple-bogey 10 at No.16, rebounded with the day's low round of 69 on Tuesday. ... Today's first round of match play includes three pairings pitting Curtis Cup teammates against each other - Wendy Ward vs. Sarah Ingram; Semple Thompson vs. Ellen Port; and GBI's Lisa Walton vs. Mhairi McKinlay. ... Shirley wasn't the only Virginian who left town disappointed. Arlington's Arantxa Sison double-bogeyed the final hole to shoot an 84 and miss the cut by one. Virginia Beach's Chris Epperly withdrew after a first-round 92. ... Three-time champion Anne Sander of Santa Barbara, Calif., the oldest player in the field at 56, shot a second-round 76 to qualify at 155.
... Besides Sparks, the most notable name to fail to make match play was Floridian Erin O'Neil, a two-time U.S. Open qualifier.
by CNB