Jackie Rogowicz lives just about an hour from Stonewall. The former Penn State golfer grew up in Yardley, a small town bordering the Delaware River, and currently works in Horsham, Pa., a suburb of Philadelphia, as an investment analyst. The 26-year-old, playing in her second Mid-Am after reaching the Round of 16 last year in her championship debut, has so far made the most of her home game.
One of 11 players from Pennsylvania in the 132-player field, Rogowicz will likely move into the match play portion of the championship as a co-medalist, putting together rounds of 71-68 on the North Course to finish at 3-under par, tied with Round 1 leader Courtney Dow and Jessica Spicer when play was suspended for the day due to darkness.
“I had some family and friends out following yesterday,” said Rogowicz, who has a friend who is a member at Stonewall and was able to come out and play the course twice prior to the championship. “I have my family here, my sister was around, so it’s nice being local.”
Despite a bogey on the second hole, Rogowicz went out in 32, carding an eagle 2 on the par-4 fourth hole (a 120-yard hole out) as well as three additional birdies.
“[Hole] two is a really hard pin, so I feel like bogey wasn’t terrible. Four was another tough pin. I wanted to get it back there because I knew it was on the top shelf, so it hit it and I didn’t even see it go in. A USGA official up there was like, ‘that went in!’ So that was cool.”
Rogowicz’ Round 2 score of 3-under par 68 is all the more impressive when you factor in a triple bogey on par-4 10th hole. After driving her tee shot into the fairway bunker, she caught the edge of the greenside bunker with her second shot. After her third shot rolled off the green, she failed to get up and down.
“After one big mistake, I was just hoping to make a couple pars and maybe another birdie,” said Rogowicz on her approach after the big number on 10. She would play her final eight holes in 2-under par.
Dow, 25, of Frisco, Texas, shot a 4-over 75 one day after her record-breaking 64, the lowest stroke play round in U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur history. She carded a double bogey, three bogeys and managed one lone birdie on the par-4 11th hole.
“All day I struggled a little,” said Dow. “Nothing was too good. Nothing was too bad. I had a few bad swings that really cost me, a couple misread putts, and nothing really saved me or got me any shots back once I made a mistake.”
Currently sitting T1 with Rogowicz and Dow is Spicer, 25, of Bahama, N.C. Spicer shot rounds of 69-70 to breeze into match play in her championship debut.
“I didn’t look at the scoreboard at all and I knew that [Courtney] shot a 64 yesterday, so I honestly didn’t figure that I was anywhere near [the lead]. I just crept in my putt on the last hole for par and then they told me that I was tied for first, so I was like, ‘okay, I’m glad that went in.’ It would obviously be a great honor if [the score] holds up, and if not, it’ll be a good seed for match play.”
After narrowly avoiding the storms that have been wreaking havoc up and down the East Coast on Saturday for Round 1, Stonewall showed it wasn’t immune to Mother Nature on Sunday, receiving nearly half an inch of rain to start the day, which came with a two-hour delay to tee times. When play was suspended at 7:10 p.m. ET, 32 players were still on the course.
What's Next
Round 2 will resume at 7 a.m. ET. If necessary, a playoff to determine the final match-play spots will begin at approximately 9 a.m. The Round of 64 will begin at approximately 10 a.m.
Notable
Two-time U.S. Women’s Open champion Betsy King was in attendance on Sunday. King was born and raised in nearby Reading, Pa., and still resides in the state.
2018 champion Shannon Johnson and Catherine McEvoy had the biggest Round 2 turnarounds and are likely to make match play because of it. Johnson shot 82-71 and McEvoy 82-70.
Past champions likely to advance to match play include Blakesly Brock, Julia Potter-Bobb, Lauren Greenlief, Kelsey Chugg, Ina Kim-Schaad, Meghan Stasi and Johnson.
Other notables to advance include two-time runner-up Aliea Clark, 2017 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champion Judith Kyrinis and three-time U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champion Lara Tennant.
Both Rogowicz and Spicer are playing in their third USGA championship of 2023. They both competed in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, and last month played in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, Calif., where Rogowicz advanced to match play.
Quotable
“I think my approach will be pretty similar in terms of trying to get to the right tiers of greens and leaving myself with the right putts. I didn’t do that on the last couple holes coming in and leaked out three-putts that cost me a few shots down the stretch.” - Courtney Dow on her approach for match play
“I didn’t reach them in two. No. 7, I hit it just short of the green, chipped it up and made a putt. And then on eight I had 100 yards in, hit it to 15 feet and made that.” - Jackie Rogowicz on how she played the back-to-back par 5s (Holes 7 and 8)
“It was an interesting start with the two-hour delay. I didn’t know how much we were going to get in, so I was very thankful that we had good weather for the whole round. My sister bought a $140 rain jacket in the pro shop before we went out, so I told her that’s probably why it didn’t rain again. So I appreciate that.” - Jessica Spicer on her round
“There are a few things I feel like I can improve on, especially because the longest birdie putt that I made today was a 4-footer. I feel like I’m just starting to ramp up, so I’m hoping that just continues on. That’s what I want with match play. I don’t want to peak in stroke play, so hopefully I continue to play better.” - Two-time champion Julia Potter-Bobb on her momentum heading into match play
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