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Melone scores 159 in championship
After a tough front nine holes on Wednesday, Western Carolina’s Bianca Melone will more than likely miss the cut for match play at the 2006 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship at the Walking Stick Golf Course in Pueblo, Colo. Melone, a rising senior for the Catamount women’s golf team, carded a second day total of 83, accompanied by her opening round of 76, to stand with a 159 overall, tied with nine other golfers in 92nd.
Fourteen players failed to complete their second rounds on Wednesday when darkness halted play for the day at 8:24 pm. Weather delays totaling just over two hours caused two suspensions in the afternoon, with windy conditions otherwise. The second round of stroke play will be completed on Thursday morning at 7:00 am MT (9:00 am ET), with the first round of match play tentatively scheduled for 9:30 am MT (11:30 am ET).
Starting on the back nine, Melone was well on her way towards making the top 64 cut, which would have put her into the match play bracket. After shooting a five-over, 41, on Tuesday, the Orlando, Fla., native rallied to correct her mistakes to make the turn at one-over, 36, birdying hole 13 before back-to-back bogeys on the 17th and 18th holes.
Melone hit the front section of the course having shot one-under, 35, during the opening round, but could not duplicate the under-par performance from the previous day. After the back-to-back bogies on the back, she opened with a double bogey on the first hole and would finish with two more doubles, one bogey, and one triple bogey, shooting par on just four holes to fire 46 on the back.
Melone’s final finishing order will not be determined until the conclusion of stroke play on Thursday morning, but she should rank among the top 100 out of the nearly 150 total women’s golfers in attendance.
Despite not making the cut to advance to match play, Melone garnered great experience and exposure during the summer away from Cullowhee. Playing at the national championship after earning her way to Colorado by qualifying at her home course in Florida should help build confidence in her game heading towards her final collegiate. Melone will enter her senior year after scoring her best-ever finish at the Southern Conference Championships last season, placing second to lead the Catamounts to a second-place overall finish.
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