Rossi Shines on Day 1 of Westbrook Invitational
Feb 26 | Women's Golf
PEORIA, Ariz. (February 26, 2023) – After two rounds of play at the Westbrook Invitational in Arizona on Sunday, Rutgers women's golf sits in eighth place as a team and Maeve Rossi is tied for first place on the individual leaderboard.
The Scarlet Knights improved on their first-round score of 293 by five strokes, shooting a 288 in round two to move into eighth, ahead of fellow Big Ten teams Penn State, Iowa and hosts Wisconsin.
Rossi had a day to remember at Westbrook Village Golf Course, firing a career-low 4-under 68 to vault up 16 spots and tie for the tournament lead heading into the last round. Her 36-hole score of 140 also marked a career best.
In round one, Rossi was consistent up and down the course, rolling home 14 pars and a pair of birdies for an even-par 72. She kicked it up to another level in the second round, carding seven birdies, including three in a four-hole span. She is tied with four other golfers at 4-under 140 with one round left to play.
"While today wasn't my best ball-striking day, my short game and putting put me in position to score," Rossi said. "It was a fun round in the afternoon and I'm happy with the way I stayed focused. As a group, we know this is a course we can all score on and we are excited to head back out for round three."
2023 Westbrook Invitational: Rounds 1 and 2
Westbrook Village Golf Club ‐ Vistas Course (Peoria, Ariz.)
Par 72 | 6.248 yards
Weather: Partly clouds, temps in 50s, 10-15 mph winds
The Scarlet Knights improved on their first-round score of 293 by five strokes, shooting a 288 in round two to move into eighth, ahead of fellow Big Ten teams Penn State, Iowa and hosts Wisconsin.
Rossi had a day to remember at Westbrook Village Golf Course, firing a career-low 4-under 68 to vault up 16 spots and tie for the tournament lead heading into the last round. Her 36-hole score of 140 also marked a career best.
In round one, Rossi was consistent up and down the course, rolling home 14 pars and a pair of birdies for an even-par 72. She kicked it up to another level in the second round, carding seven birdies, including three in a four-hole span. She is tied with four other golfers at 4-under 140 with one round left to play.
"While today wasn't my best ball-striking day, my short game and putting put me in position to score," Rossi said. "It was a fun round in the afternoon and I'm happy with the way I stayed focused. As a group, we know this is a course we can all score on and we are excited to head back out for round three."
2023 Westbrook Invitational: Rounds 1 and 2
Westbrook Village Golf Club ‐ Vistas Course (Peoria, Ariz.)
Par 72 | 6.248 yards
Weather: Partly clouds, temps in 50s, 10-15 mph winds
| 8 | Rutgers | 293 | 288 | 581 |
| Place | Name | Round 1 | Round 2 | Tournament |
| T1 | Maeve Rossi | 72 (E) | 68 (-4) | 140 (-4) |
| T16 | Leigha Devine | 73 (+1) | 71 (-1) | 144 (E) |
| T26 | Rikke Nordvik | 75 (+3) | 71 (-1) | 146 (+2) |
| T59 | Nicole Ewing | 73 (+1) | 78 (+6) | 151 (+7) |
| T69 | Lucrezia Rossettin | 75 (+3) | 78 (+6) | 153 (+9) |
Leigha Devine sits in the top-20 in a tie for 16th after an even-par 144 in the first two rounds. Devine had 15 pars in the second round and two birdies to finish her round 1-under par.
Rikke Nordvik joined Rossi and Devine under par in the second round, shooting a 1-under 71 to move into a tie for 26th place. She closed the second round in very strong fashion, carding a birdie on her final three holes and on four of the last five.
"I'm proud of the way the team played today. Maeve had a great day on the course and maintained her composure this afternoon after rolling in a few birdies," head coach Kari Williams said. "Rikke battled to close out her round under par and Leigha scrambled well to finish at one-under. Conditions were challenging with the cold and strong winds, but everyone did a nice job of managing their games. Tomorrow we have another opportunity to come out and compete with this top-ranked field."
The third and final round of the tournament is set for an 11:30 a.m. ET shotgun start on Monday morning.
The third and final round of the tournament is set for an 11:30 a.m. ET shotgun start on Monday morning.
Rutgers University Women's Golf /// Piscataway, N.J.
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