Despite Controversy, Livermore Golfers Advance in National Tournament

Casie Cathrea was fighting back tears.

It was an odd sight to see, considering the 15-year-old from Livermore had just shot a 2-under-par 70 to move into second place at the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship in Olympia Fields, Ill.

But Cathrea had just been informed by a tournament official that a spectator had alleged she had entered an incorrect score during play Monday in the tournament at historic Olympia Fields Country Club.

“There was a question on my score yesterday on the sixth hole,” Cathrea explained. “The spectator said he thought I got a double [bogey] on the hole, but me and my marker and my caddie all agreed it was a bogey.”

According to the “Rules of Golf,” published by the United States Golf Association (USGA), a player who enters a score for a hole lower than the actual number of strokes played is subject to disqualification from tournament play. Another USGA publication, “Decisions on the Rules of Golf,” covers the exact scenario Cathrea faced.

“The [rules] committee should consult with the competitor and marker and also take into account the testimony of other witnesses,” the book explains.

That’s exactly what happened. A member of the USGA rules committee for the tournament escorted Cathrea and her two playing partners back to the sixth hole, where they reconstructed what had happened the previous day.

“We went out to the hole and we agreed it was a bogey,” Cathrea said. “If I would’ve been disqualified just because of something a spectator said, that wouldn’t have been right.”

What was right was Cathrea’s play over the 6,357-yard course.

“It was pretty consistent on the back nine,” Cathrea said. “The front nine was a little up and down.”

After shooting a one-over-par 37 on the front nine, Cathrea came up with three birdies on the back nine and parred the other six holes.

That gave her a two-day total of 144 for 36 holes. Only Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand scored better, with a 4-under-par 140.

Cathrea said she played better with her irons on Tuesday, but the biggest difference in her lower score was her putting.

“This summer I’ve been working on trying to get stronger, working on my putting, so the putting definitely helped,” she said.

Slow Swearingen?

Cathrea said her goal coming into the tournament was “just to get past the first two days,” to reach the match-play portion of the competition. Only 64 of the 156 golfers in the tournament qualified for match play. One of them was another Livermore golfer, Marguerite Swearingen, who tied for 20th place in the stroke-play qualifying with a two-day total of 149.

Swearingen would have been tied for 14th place, which theoretically could have given her an easier opponent for the first-round of match play Wednesday, but she and the other two players in her group were assessed a penalty stroke for slow play on Monday.

“I’m not a very slow player,” Swearingen said. “I like to play fast.” Swearingen, a graduate who will play this fall for UNLV, said the group failed to make a pair of checkpoints by the time they were supposed to.

“In previous tournaments that I’ve played in … we could make up the checkpoints,” Swearingen noted. “We were running like the last three holes. We thought we could make it up and we did. We made the last checkpoint great.”

Tuesday, Swearingen was asked about her pace of play after shooting a 2-over-par 74.

“A little faster than yesterday,” she said. “It was just a really good day. I had like four birdies. My putting was on fire again today. I just had a couple bad holes. Overall, it was really good. I’m happy with what I shot.”

Swearingen, 17, will take on Maria Fernanda Torres of Puerto Rico in the first round of match play Wednesday. Torres finished the two days of qualifying stroke play with a 7-over-par 151.

“I have good confidence in my putting right now,” Swearingen said. “That’s where it’s all at in match play. You’ve got a five-footer, you’ve got to make it. You’ve got to hammer it in. I’m going to do that tomorrow and hopefully win. I want to go far in this.”

So does Cathrea, who will face Lakereber Abe of Angleton, Texas, who finished at 154 in stroke play.

“I want to win [the tournament],” Cathrea said. “I know that’s every girl’s goal this week.”