The best women’s amateur golf will be in Puerto Rico this week.
The Grand Reserve Club tournaments, in Rio Grande, will host the seventh edition of the USGA Women’s Amateur Fourball Championship, which will take place from tomorrow through Sunday with the participation of 64 teams and 128 players.
“This is a very important tournament because it’s one of the official tournaments. It’s the national championship. For purposes, the team that was crowned is the national champion. It’s the first time the tournament has left the continental United States,” USA FA Deputy Rules Director, Puerto Rico Francisco Rivera, explained to speaker. Puerto Rico will be represented by the team of Darianys Guzmán of Dorada and Camila Negroni of Trujillo. There will be representation in addition to the United States, Canada, Mexico, England, France, South Korea and Spain.
Young athletes such as Ella John Hannant and Jenna Kim, ages 12 and 13, respectively, will participate in the tournament. Current event champions American Savannah Barber and Mexico’s Alexa Saldana will also be in attendance.
“They are very happy because – although they are used to playing tournaments – when they come to Puerto Rico, they find different conditions. There are winds, different types of grass and other conditions that they are not used to.
The teams – known in this case as the two sides – will be made up of two golfers playing their balls, with the two’s best performance being the one that counts on each hole.
The event will begin with two qualifying rounds for 64 participating teams over the course of tomorrow and Thursday. That number will be reduced to 32 teams on Friday for the play phase.
Then rounds of 16, eight, four and two teams will be played. “On Sunday there will be ‘two matches’ on the same day to decide who is the champion,” Rivera said.
Winners are guaranteed tournament qualification for the next 10 years and a ticket to the USGA Women Amateur 2022.
