University of Southern California (USC) student and Kiwi Amelia Garvey has improved from 25th place to 8th after the first two days of the Sun Devil Winter Classic at the Talking Stick Golf Course in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The tournament is part of the PAC-12 conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and involves women’s golf teams from Arizona State, Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, WSU, Washington and USC.
Garvey tied for 25th at 2-over 74 after the first 18 holes but on day two of three Garvey shot her season-best 2-under 70 to be tied for eighth at par 144 (74-70) after a four-birdie day, including one on 16 to get back to 2-under.
Garvey’s stunning second round and that of her teammate Alyaa Abdulghany, who also shot a 2-under 70 has helped USC move from third to first with a round to play.
The USC Trojans, seeking their second win in a row to start the season, posted a 2-under second round and were the only team under par, taking over first at 1-under 575 (289-286), one shot ahead of host Arizona State. UCLA and Oregon are tied for third at 11-over.
On the opening day USC Head Coach Justin Silverstein said the cold weather in Arizona was making it difficult for the team to adjust.
“It was extremely cold when we teed off and I think that took a little for us to adjust to,” Silverstein said.
“Making yardage adjustments is something we pride ourselves on and I was pleased to see the adjustments our team made throughout the round.”
Temperatures overnight in Scottsdale have been getting down to seven degrees Celcius.
“Katherine [Muzi] and Amelia did a great just battling throughout the day,” Silverstein said.
“To keep themselves in the round and things like that are huge for our team score.”
USC will tee off with Arizona State and Oregon beginning at 5:42 am on Thursday NZDT.
