The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senor Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

HAD it not been for double bogeys on four of her 18 holes, Bahamian flag bearer Georgette Rolle felt she would have been right in the mix of the 2016 Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Golf Classic. Instead, she turned in a disappointing 9-over-par 82 that leaves her sitting in the 107th spot out of a field of 108 players.

Only Inbee Park, the South Korean who won three titles last year, trails Rolle after she withdrew after her 7-over-80.

Rolle, the 30-year-old professional in the Bahamas Golf Federation, played out of the threesome with American Cheyenne Woods, the niece of legendary golfer Tiger Woods and Annie Park.

Woods, who along with Sadena Parks are the only African-Americans playing in the tournament, finished the first day tied with 12 others for a one-over-par 74, while Annie Park, making a rookie debut, is tied with eight others for a three-over-par 76. Sadena Parks was tied with three others with five-over-par.

A total of seven players, including major winners Paula Creamer of the United States and Catriona Matthew of Scotland, share the leaderboard at 5-under-par 68.

For Rolle, who is back in the main draw with the Bahamas exemption for the third time after she was beaten out by Raquel Riley last year, admitted that she knew where she went wrong. The only problem was she couldn’t do anything about it.

“Thankfully it was good weather for starters, but I hit the ball good today. I guess I just hit a few shots too long in some key places, which threw me where I am.”

The double bogeys for Rolle came on the 9th, 11th, 13th and 14th holes. She also bogeyed the 3rd, 8th, 16th and 28th holes, but she came up with three birdies on the 2nd, 5th and 15th holes. It just wasn’t enough to get her any higher in the standings as she trailed Americans Rachel Rohanna and Vicky Hurst, who were both tied for 105th place at 7-over-par 80, two strokes ahead of Rolle.

“Those are just mistakes that you end up making when you don’t play too much tournaments,” Rolle reflected. “Tomorrow (today), I will try to play a lot better and hopefully not make the same mistakes that I made today (yesterday).

Today, the cut will be made for the final 70 plus ties that will survive the final two days of competition on Saturday and Sunday as they compete for the $1.4 million in prize money, including $210,000 for the winner.

Rolle’s caddie Ricardo Davis said she played well, but still has some work to do. “She just made some simple, simple errors,” he said. “If she can clean them up, she will be right there. I feel confident that she can do it.”

But from yesterday’s opening round, Rolle can take some solace in the fact that she got to play with Woods, one of the players she had wished to be paired up with.

“It’s always good when when you are in an event with an African-American,” Rolle said. “She and Sadena (Parks) are all nice ladies, so I had a good time out there playing with her (Woods).”

Woods, who is making her debut in the Bahamas in her second year on the tour, said she was surprised at the support they got on the course, especially for Rolle.

“It was a lot of fun. You could tell that she had a lot of support as the spectators came by to cheer on their local player. I enjoyed seeing that,” said Woods, who indicated that she heard them cheering more for Rolle than her, which was fine with her. “Maybe if I had made some more birdies they would have called my name a little more. But I was glad to see how they supported her.”

As for her performance, Woods said she felt she played alright.

“It wasn’t bad. I felt I had an up and down round. Unfortunately my putting was a little off. I missed a few of them that I should have hit, but overall, it was a decent day,” she said. “I’m going to work on my putting and see if I can work that out. I hit the ball well. I had a few birdies, so I can’t complain. I just need to work on my putting.”