HANNAH LEADS AT SYMETRA CLASSIC

NEWS FROM THE SYMETRA TOUR CLASSIC

Allison Hanna (@Allison_Hanna) put together a 3-under 69 bogey-free round on Saturday to give herself a two-shot lead over Dori Carter (@Dori_Carter) heading into Sunday’s final round. Hanna, who was the only player to post two sub-70 rounds in the first two days of competition, finished the day with a 15-foot birdie putt on the par 3 18^th and took her two-day total to 9-under 135.

Carter started the day T16 and five shots off the lead but fired the low round of the day 6-under 66 and sits two shots back at 7-under 137. Volvik ranked No. 10 Nicole Smith (@NicoleSmithGolf) shot 1-under 71 and is solo third at 6-under 138. No. 9 Jaclyn Sweeney (@JaclynSweeney22) and Jessica Speechley (@jess_speech) are T4 at 5-under 139.

Meet the Symetra Classic Leaders:

Allison Hanna (-9): The eight-year pro has had LPGA Tour status since 2005 and has played off and on the Symetra Tour since her rookie year in 2004. She’s currently ranked No. 43 in the Volvik Race for the Card and a top finish this week in Charlotte would push her towards the front of the pack for the remaining two events to regain full status on the LPGA Tour next season. A native of Portland, Ore., Hanna has one Symetra Tour victory and won in 2009 at the Texas Hill Country Classic in San Antonio, Texas. The Ohio State University alum has two top-10 and four top-20 finishes in nine starts this season and had back-to-back season-best finishes T8 at the Island Resort Championship and the Northeast Delta Dental International.   

Dori Carter (-7): The third-year professional is currently in her second season on the LPGA Tour but got her start playing on the Symetra Tour. Carter is looking to secure her second Symetra Tour victory since the 2010 Pennsylvania Classic. This year on the Symetra Tour, she finished tied for 51^st at the Credit Union Classic and tied for third at the Credit Union Challenge. Since joining the LPGA Tour in 2011, Carter recorded a career-best tied for 19^th finish at the Safeway Classic Presented by Coca-Cola.

Nicole Smith (-6): The third year Symetra Tour player, who is currently ranked No. 10 in the Volvik Race for the Card, is in search of her first Symetra Tour victory. Smith, a Riverside, Calif. native, has been one of the few constant contenders in the Race throughout the entire season. This year, she has posted three top-10 and five top-20 finishes in 13 starts. She also leads the Tour in greens in regulation, birdies, and ranks third in driving distance.

Hitching a Ride…After posting a 3-under bogey-free round in Saturday’s second round, Allison Hanna’s scorecard didn’t exactly look exciting, but the eight-year pro claimed she had an action-packed round that she had to work for.

“It was an eventful day actually,” said Hanna. “I had to get up and down twice from like 90 yards to make par and I didn’t make a bogey. I made a long putt on the par 3 down the hill for par. So I made three stellar pars. My pars were more exciting than my birdies.”

Her 3-under 69 in the second round pushed the Portland, Ore. Native out to a two-shot lead heading into Sunday’s final round. When asked when the last time she held the lead with 18 holes to play, Hanna had to pause and think.

“Probably a couple years ago,” said Hanna. “I’ll be trying to stay calm and focused. I got a little quick and hit a couple poor shots today. But I really don’t want to think about what it entails and just play another solid day of golf and everything will happen.”

Hanna’s last win came on the Symetra Tour in 2009 at the Texas Hill Country Classic in San Antonio, Texas. With a win this week, the current LPGA Tour member will position herself right in the mix of things for the Volvik Race for the Card, with two events left after this week. She is already in the field for next week’s Navistar LPGA Classic and will have to decide whether to play in Vidalia for another shot to better her chance for a card which will ultimately improve her LPGA Tour status for the 2013 season. Without a car in Charlotte this week, Hanna will have to make some arrangements if she does indeed decide to travel to Vidalia

“I have a couple options for rides,” said Hanna. “I don’t really have a car here this week so it will be interesting for next week. But the girls are all really nice out here and I’m sure I’d find a way.”

A Win is a Win… Dori Carter spends the majority of her time playing on the LPGA Tour but a 6-under par 66 during the second-round of the Symetra Classic has her in contention to notch her first victory since the 2010 Pennsylvania Classic.

Carter hit an impressive 16 greens and only needed 28 putts during the second round to move her within two-strokes of Allison Hanna heading into tomorrow’s final round.

“Like I’ve been playing the last few weeks I just hit a lot of greens,” said Carter. “I haven’t been making too many putts so I have been working on that a lot lately and finally today I made a couple but I hit it so close I didn’t have to worry about too many long putts. “

While Carter has only played in two Symetra Tour tournaments this year, a win tomorrow would boost her confidence heading into next week’s Navistar LPGA Classic.

“A win is a win no matter what tour you’re on, it always feels good,” Carter said. “So it would really be a nice way to end things.”

This year on the LPGA, Carter has missed eight out of 13 cuts and recorded a season-best tied for 19^th finish at the Safeway Classic Presented by Coca-Cola. With next week’s Navistar LPGA Classic serving as the last full-field event on the LPGA Tour, Carter needs to post a solid finish to regain her LPGA Tour card for next season.

Only the top 125 on the LPGA Tour’s money list at the end of the season will regain their Tour card for the 2013 year. This year, Carter has made $29,977 which lands her at 114^th on the money list and leaves her in danger of not regaining her card for next year.

“I kind of had a rough year and it would be a nice way to lead into probably, unless I win Navistar, my final LPGA event of the year,” said Carter. “It would just be nice to finish the year on a positive note and take it into next week. Next week, I have a little of pressure to play well there and keep my card. A win here would just help build my confidence to do that next week. You don’t want to put pressure on one week but you kind of have to when the season starts winding down and you have to play well. I’m just glad I’m playing well this week leading up to next week.”

Bicycle! Bicycle! Nicole Smith wants to ride her bicycle and a win tomorrow could earn her enough money to purchase the bike she has already dreamed of.

Smith bounced back from a dreaded triple-bogey at the par-5 second to notch four birdies en route to a second-round 1-under par 71.

Arguably one of the most consistent players on the Symetra Tour, Smith currently ranks No. 9 on the Volvik Race for the Card standings and is one of only two players along with Sara Brown in the top-10 to not miss a cut all season. She has finished in the top -20 five times and recorded a season-best tied for second finish at the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic.

Smith, who has already participated in a Sprint Triathlon in California, hopes to purchase dream bike and compete in more triathlons.

“I buy myself presents when I play good,” Smith said. “I would like to buy a present. My goal this year I told myself I’d buy myself a road bike and I would really like to buy myself a road bike. You have to have goals in life.”

Similar Scenario…After her 1-over 73 performance on Saturday, Volvik No. 9 Jaclyn Sweeney admitted she wasn’t thrilled about her round, but felt like her game was in a good place. It just happened to be one of those rounds that a few putts didn’t drop.

“I really wanted to back up a good round today and I didn’t but it’s nothing to be upset about,” said Sweeney. “I putted really well yesterday. I gave myself I think ten opportunities from six feet for birdies and a three-footer and missed all of them. I rolled in a nine-footer and that was my only birdie of the day.”

Sweeney felt like everything was in place and hopes to have a few more putts drop in tomorrow’s final round.

“I was right around the hole,” said Sweeney. “My stroke felt good. It just wasn’t’ dropping and I’d rather have that happen today tomorrow. I was a little emotional with my putts. I lipped out a 20-footer and was a little frustrated. I played solid golf and am hitting it well. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and going low again.”

Sweeney is in familiar territory and close to a situation that led her to the highlight of her career six weeks ago in Albany, NY. Sweeney sat one shot off the lead heading into the final round of the Credit Union Challenge and shot 3-under 68 on Sunday to clinch a one-stroke victory and her first professional win.

“The last round is always exciting,” said Sweeney. “Hopefully I’ll be in shouting distance of the lead. If someone lights it up this afternoon, good for them, they deserve to have a five-shot lead. I’m kind of in the same position as Albany when I won. I really want to take what I did today and did yesterday and try to combine them for a solid round.”

The last time Sweeney won, she was also part of the victorious pro-am team in Albany. The Bradenton, Fla. native had more pre-tournament success at this week’s pro-am in Charlotte and came out on top.

“I told them, if we win, I should win the event,” said Sweeney with a laugh. “And we won by one shot. I had a great group. They were a lot of fun and good players. I didn’t have to hit a lot of good shots which was great. I could’ve used them today.”

Learning the Ropes… While most players tend to take some time to get adjusted to life on the Symetra Tour, the training wheels seem to be off for rookie Jessica Speechley.

Speechley followed-up a first-round even-par 72 at the Symetra Classic with a season-best 5-under par 67 that included six birdies and a three-putt bogey.

“That was a tough pin,” Speechley said of her bogey at the par-4 13^th. “It was tucked in the left and I was on the bottom right so it was a swirly kind of putt and I three putted that one. “

After her round, Speechley credited advice from her caddie for the five-stroke improvement from yesterday’s first round.

“Yesterday I think I was afraid to hit my shots,” Speechley said. “Then today my caddie was like just swing freely like you don’t care and go for it.”

Speechley, who is currently No. 47 in the Volvik Race for the card standings has missed two cuts this season and recorded three top-20 finish including a career-best ninth at the Credit Union Classic. Speechley currently stands tenth in the Rookie of the Year race and is feeling now feeling comfortable on the Symetra Tour with the season dwindling down.

“I really enjoy it out here,” Speechley said of the Symetra Tour. “Everyone is so friendly; there are great tournaments and good competition especially. It’s been good so far.”

Volvik Check-In…Six out of the eight players in the Volvik top-10 in the field this week made the cut this week and will have the chance to improve their rankings in the Race for the Card. No. 10 Nicole Smith leads the group, heading into Sunday at 6-under 138 and had rounds of 67-71 to put her in the leadergroup for the final round. The following rounds out the scores and positions of the remaining top-10: No. 9 Jaclyn Sweeney: T4 (-5, 66-73); No. 6 Sara Brown: T14 (-4, 74-68); No. 3 Victoria Elizabeth: T20 (-1, 75-68); No. 4 Julia Boland : T20 (-1, 70-73); No. 7 Jenny Gleason: T48 (+2, 74-72).

No. 5 Jenny Suh and No. 2 Paola Moreno came up short this week and will have to take advantage of the final two events to improve their season’s earnings. Suh finished T80 (+5, 75-74) while Moreno ended up T96 (+6, 75-75)

Might as well jump…Several players made the most out of moving day on Saturday in the second round and posted low numbers to made a formidable jump up the leaderboard to position themselves nicely heading into the final round. Australian rookie Jessica Speechley shot the low round of the day with a 5-under 67 that boosted her from T30 to T3. Sandra Changkija and Cara Freeman both started the day at 2-under and posted 4-under 68 on Saturday to jump from T70 to T13, sitting seven shots off the lead. 

See you on Sunday…A total of 71 players made the cut which fell at 3-over par 147.

Of Note…One out of the two tournament exemptions will be playing on Sunday as Rinko Mitsunaga (@rinkofowler) shot 2-over 74 on Saturday for a two-day total 2-over 146 to make the cut. The 16-year old amateur had three bogeys and one birdie on Saturday and heads into the final round T48. 

Local exempt Cheyenne Woods (@Cheyenne_Woods) did not fare as well in her Symetra Tour debut and followed up an even-par first round with a 7-over 79 on Saturday and will miss the cut by four strokes.