Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge
Willow Run Golf Course
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
September 4, 2015
Second-Round News & Notes

SIOUX FALLS, S.D., September 4, 2015 - Caroline Westrup (Baerum, Norway) posted a career low 6-under 65 on Friday at the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge to move into a share of the lead with Cydney Clanton (Concord, North Carolina), who posted a 5-under 66. Westrup and Clanton are 10-under 132 with the clubhouse lead as play was suspended due to darkness.

Just before noon, storms started to develop and horns blew at 12:10 p.m. due to lightning in the area. An hour and 33 minutes later, play resumed. At 7:49 p.m., play was suspended for the night. There are still seven groups that need to finish round two. The second round will resume on Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. Once play is completed and the cut is made, the third round will begin no earlier than 9:00 a.m. The Epson Tour and tournament officials have decided to split the tees on Saturday in order to finish the third round. In addition, the decision has been made to use a split tee start for the final round on Sunday. Therefore, the trophy ceremony will take place at approximately 2:00 p.m.

Westrup, 29, turned in a clean card with three birdies on the front nine and three birdies on the back nine.

“I’m really happy, 65 is my lowest competitive round,” said the former Florida State star. “My game has been really solid over the last two days. Yesterday, I hit some long putts and today I hit it closer.”

Westrup has made 12 birdies through two rounds against just two bogeys.

The longtime friend of LPGA star Suzann Pettersen has one top 10 finish this year and three top 20 results. This is the first time she has been at the top of the leaderboard heading into the weekend.

“This is a great event to play well in and I have worked very hard the past couple weeks when I was home and I’ve been very motivated,” said Westrup. “I’ve been a little up and down the last couple tournaments and I haven’t felt confident. Being home has really helped.”

Westrup missed the cut in her last three Epson Tour starts and decided to take the W.B. Mason Championship off two weeks ago to reset.

“I feel like I’m completely prepared right now,” said Westrup. “I practiced a lot and I worked on my strength and conditioning a lot and my whole body feels really good right now.”

Westrup currently ranks 56th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list and could potentially move into the top 10 with her first career victory.

“Winning this tournament would put me near the top 10 and it’s obviously a goal of mine to earn my full LPGA Tour status,” said Westrup, who has played in 11 LPGA events over the last two years. “I’ve had
conditional status for the last two years and it would be great to have full time LPGA status.”

“It would be a dream come true to get my card. To be able to plan my schedule at the start of the year would be great.”

Westrup said she got into 11 events last year and only five this year. She quickly decided to focus mostly on the Epson Tour.

“From the beginning of the year, I thought I was going to get into more LPGA events and focus on the LPGA,” said Westrup. “Early in the year, I realized I wasn’t getting into events so the Epson Tour quickly became my number one priority.”

THE SPIRIT OF AUBURN COACH KIM EVANS: Every time Cydney Clanton makes the drive from her home in North Carolina to her short game coach in Mississippi, she always tries to see her college coach, Kim Evans. Two weeks ago, Clanton gave the legendary former Auburn coach a call and the two met up for a casual nine. Then last week, the two linked up again while Clanton was at the Yokohama Tire LPGA
Classic for another nine holes.

“It’s just great to be around her with her battle and success against cancer,” said Clanton after posting a 5-under 66 on Friday. “Her outlook on life is so positive and she’s always so positive. She has always been a big fan of mine.”

Coach Evans, who spent 21 years as the leader of the Auburn golf program, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2013 and then declared cancer free five months later.

“She told me to keep my head up and things will turn around and it seems to be coming true.”

Clanton was just 1-under on the day after 11 holes when lightning forced the players off the course. She birdied three of her final seven holes after the resumption of play.

“Most people would say that the delay was a bummer, but I needed to step back and take a breather,” said Clanton. “I went out and played well after the delay so it was a positive thing for me.”

ALTOMARE POSTS A COURSE RECORD 63: Brittany Altomare (Schrewsbury, Mass.) had no time to dwell on a ho-hum 1-over 72 on Thursday. She didn’t finish until after 8:00 p.m and started round two at 9:31 a.m.

She turned things around in a big way on Friday with a Willow Run Golf Course record 8-under 63 to move from a tie for 35th to fourth. It is the best round of her career.

What did she have for breakfast?

“Some eggs and bacon, just the usual,” joked Altomare. “I was putting really well, but when I had a wedge in my hand the ball stopped right next to the hole, it was crazy. I was just in the zone all day.”

Altomare ranks 32nd on the Volvik Race for the Card money list so a strong finish would go a long way.

“It’s nice going into the weekend in contention, it gives me something to shoot for,” said the former ACC Player of the Year at Virginia. “In some ways, I kind of need to forget about it and move on to Saturday.”

During the off weeks, Altomare spent a lot of time with her golf coach trying to refine her swing. Altomare hasn’t played as well as she would like this year. She ranked eighth in scoring average last year and ranks 24th this year. Part of the problem was with the putter.

“I started drawing a line on my golf ball this week because I didn’t know where I was aiming,” said Altomare, who ranks 36th on Tour in putting. “I knew something had to change and I knew I was reading the putts right. I just wasn’t lining it up right.”

CRAZY TRAVEL AND LITTLE TIME TO PREPARE: Emma de Groot (Coffs Harbour, Australia) played in the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic last week. On Sunday night, she drove nine hours to Dallas and then took a 9:00 a.m. Monday morning flight to Sioux Falls.

“It wasn’t the smoothest trip, but at least I got here,” said de Groot, who posted a 6-under 65 on Friday. “I haven’t had time to explore much of Sioux Falls besides the golf course, my host housing and Qdoba.”

de Groot posted a 2-over 73 on day one and found herself in a tie for 52nd. She needed to make a move.

“Everything felt good today, I hit the ball well and had a few tap in birdies,” said de Groot. “I made some clutch putts when I needed to keep the momentum and some birdies. When you add it up it was a good score.”

Although de Groot hasn’t had time to enjoy Sioux Falls, she raved about her first trip to the Mount Rushmore state.

“The people are lovely here and the people I’m staying with are lovely,” said de Groot. “Everyone is very welcoming and friendly and I’ve had a great week so far.”

Westrup and Clanton Share Lead as Play Suspends

Related Articles