EVANS, Georgia — Ashley Menne was supposed to start the second round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at 9:42 a.m. ET on Thursday. Inclement weather, however, caused a seven-and-a-half-hour delay in tee times, putting Menne’s first tee ball to 5:12 p.m.
As a result, while virtually the whole 72-player field waited for player eating to resume at Champions Retreat, Menne sat in her hotel room, catching up on sleep and binge-watching season two of Bridgerton on Netflix.
“I think I almost got the better end of the deal here,” said the Arizona State sophomore, who shot 1 over par on nine holes before Round 2 was called due to darkness at 7:52 p.m. Menne is 3 over par, two shots within the predicted cut line, and three shots behind the leaders, Amari Avery, Beatrice Wallin, and Haley Borja, who have two, two, and eight holes remaining, respectively.
“I’m going to continue my second round in the morning,” Menne explained. “The conditions are going to be very decent, and there won’t be as much wind as there was this afternoon.” “After that, I have the Augusta National practice round to look forward to, so regardless of how I play tomorrow, I’m going to have a good day.”
Because to the weather, play will resume at 7:30 a.m. Friday. Nine players completed 36 holes before Thursday night, and they will be the first to play practice rounds at Augusta National Golf Club, including first-round co-leader Anna Davis (now 2 over after a 4-over 76).
After their second rounds, the rest of the field will follow them to the historic final-round location. Menne’s group is scheduled to complete at 10:30 a.m., followed by a playoff to select the final 30 players.
“It’s a lot of hours spent just sitting and doing nothing,” Wallin explained. “I believe that playing cards with your pals or simply spending time with them helped to pass the time. It was kind of relaxing at the end of the day to just sit and wait. Because I didn’t want to play in the rain because it was raining, I was content to wait and just hang out.”
Top-ranked amateur Rose Zhang, who is 5 over after 14 holes of 1-over golf on Thursday, is one of the notables currently below the playoff cut line of 4 over. Zhang’s Stanford colleague Rachel Heck sank her first two putts of the day, one for bogey at No. 10, and was 5 over after ten holes. Heck and Wake Forest’s Rachel Kuehn are both 6 over.
Borja, a Michigan senior, bogeyed Nos. 10 and 11 to end the day, but as she stood in the dark with a camera light shining in her face, she preferred to look on the bright side — literally.
“It’s all about patience,” Borja explained. “I really considered the bright aspects of today. Yes, it’s awful weather, and I believe everyone here is doing their best to provide the greatest playing conditions possible.”
USC’s Avery and Florida State’s Wallin, the only player with two previous top-10 finishes in this event, were both 1 under par after their second rounds, with Avery’s playing partner, Jensen Castle, the only player at 2 under. At 1 over, Castle is tied for fourth with Latanna Stone of LSU, Alabama’s Angelica Moresco, and Danish junior Amalie Leth-Nissen.
While Friday will be another marathon day, the weather forecast for the remainder of the race is perfect.
“It’ll be a lot more than last year,” Avery said. “Playing only one round a day was a lot easier, but I’m only going to finish two holes [on Friday], and they’re not that difficult.”
“So two holes at 7:30 a.m., and then go to Augusta and have a good time.”
Those who make the cut will play 18 extra holes on Saturday in the hopes of holing the victory putt on Augusta National’s iconic 18th green.
