It’s never easy to go out and play after winning a tournament, but it’s much more complicated if it’s one like the Augusta National Women’s Amateur with all that it represents and the media impact it has had both in the United States and Spain. Media attention, hundreds of messages and calls, it’s easy for concentration to wane or for a certain drop in accumulated tension. Carla Bernat doesn’t understand these things, especially when the university conference title is at stake.
The recent winner at Augusta is a fierce competitor. Carla was playing her first competitive round after her victory at the ANWA and continues exactly where she left off, at the top. The Castellón native is leading after the first round of the Big 12 Conference Championship following a round of two under par at Houston Oaks Golf Club. She started on the 10th hole and in just three holes had already accumulated two birdies. She’s in great form and wants to keep taking advantage of it. There are two rounds ahead before determining the individual champion and for the top eight universities to compete for the conference title in Match Play format.
It’s worth remembering that the Kansas State University player has turned down an invitation from the LPGA this week to play alongside her teammates in the conference championship. A true team player. Collectively, they have started in eighth position. Clearly, Bernat is the guiding light for Kansas.
However, Carla is not the only one who has started the conference finals with a bang. Lucía López Ortega is the sole leader of the Mountain West Women’s Golf Championship after the first round. A round of three under par at Mission Hills Country Club is to blame for this. The Spanish player is seeking what would be her first victory on American soil.
While Carla and Lucía were starting their tournaments, the second round of the SEC Women’s Championship was already underway in Florida. Rocío Tejedo (-2), who finished the first round one stroke off the lead, has lost ground with a round of two over par. She is eighth, five strokes behind the leader Eila Galitsky (-7). Alongside Rocío is Paula Francisco (-2). The Spaniard, who plays for Florida University, will be looking for a final round that allows her to finish as high as possible. The title seems distant, but who knows if a brilliant final round will allow both Spanish players to fight for the conference victory.
Just one stroke behind the Spaniards and six off the lead is Cata Fernández (Texas A&M), who matched the best score of the day, 68 strokes, to climb nearly twenty places on the leaderboard and stay just outside the top ten. Despite the great round, the Madrid native has a slightly bitter taste as two bogeys in the final stretch prevented her from finishing in the top 5 and dreaming of something more. Martina López (+1) completes the quartet of Spaniards among the top twenty in the tournament.
As for the team competition, it’s very tight with just one more stroke play round ahead. Texas A&M (+7) are seventh with only a one-stroke advantage over the ninth-placed teams, which include Florida (+8) with Paula Francisco. Tennessee (+6) with Martina López is sixth, two strokes ahead of Florida. Only eight advance to the final phase. However, LSU (-6) with Rocío at the helm are second, and only a catastrophe will keep them out of the Match Play phase.
Paula Martín and Andrea Revuelta (Stanford) and Carolina López Chacarra (Wake Forest) will begin their respective conference final, the Atlantic Conference Championship, this Wednesday.
