The pressure mounted during Friday’s second rounds of the State Am and Women’s State Am at Idaho Falls Country Club. For the men, the cutline fell at 16-over-par, eliminating half of the field from tomorrow’s final round. For the women, it was the true definition of “Moving Day” as players slid up and down the leaderboard—having no cut due to the women having a smaller field size.
Kelli Ann Strand (+3) finished the day with a two-shot lead over Carly Carter (+5) as the current leader of the Women’s State Am. After an impressive five-under-par round, Ashton McArthur (-4) caught the first-round leader, Jeffrey Anderson, to tie for first with one round to go in the State Am.
STATE AMATEUR
With the greens firming up at IFCC due to rising temperatures, players in the State Am field found themselves having to work just a little harder than on day one to stay in contention for the coveted trophy. Despite the scoring average (80.16) being the same for both days, it was apparent that the players were having to scramble for par, and perhaps bogey, more often than their opening 18.
It was McArthur, however, who made the biggest move on day two with his 67 (-5). With only four other male competitors shooting in the red, McArthur bested the next lowest score by three shots—set by Nate Smith and Toby Header with a two-under-par 70. On putting surfaces that have been giving the field fits all week, McArthur defied the odds by rolling in nine birdies during his second round—bringing his birdie count to 13 for the week.
Will the kid from Rexburg, Idaho, take home the trophy tomorrow, or does the hometown hero, Anderson, have something else in mind? For all we know, it might be someone else!
TOP-10 LEADERBOARD
T1- Ashton McArthur 73-67=140 (-4)
T1- Jeffrey Anderson 66-74=140 (-4)
T3- Kristopher Sayer 69-72=141 (-3)
T3- Seth Jones 70-71=141 (-3)
5- Austin French 71-71=142 (-2)
T6- Nate Smith 74-70=144 (E)
T6- Toby Heider 74-70=144 (E)
T6- Jake Slocum 71-73=144 (E)
T9- Zachary Martin 67-79=146 (+2)
T9- Jason Struhs 71-75=146 (+2)
WOMEN’S STATE AMATEUR
As mentioned above, round two was “Moving Day” at the Women’s State Am. Players shuffled up and down the leaderboard—creating major changes at the top of the standings. It was a near 50-50 split between the women regarding those who had improved their score in round two and those who did not. With most of that movement happening near the top, it became clear that there would be no clear-cut winner at this stage in the game.
The difference between days one and two was as clear as night and day for the women’s leader, Kelli Ann Strand. Shooting a three-under-par 69, Strand moved up five spots to claim the top line on the leaderboard. Rolling in seven birdies on a day where no other player shot under par, Strand proved no lead is safe with her in the field.
Strand will take her two-shot lead into Saturday with a target on her back as the ladies look to battle it out at IFCC to have their name etched as the 89th winner of the Women’s State Am.
TOP-10 LEADERBOARD
1- Kelli Ann Strand 78-69=147 (+3)
2- Carly Carter 72-77=149 (+5)
3- Brooke Patterson 71-79=150 (+6)
4- Emmy Sundby 82-74=156 (+12)
T5- Rianna Garland 84-73=157 (+13)
T5- Emily Cadwell 75-82=157 (+13)
T7- Lauren Parish 77-82=159 (+15)
T7- Madison Gridley 85-74=159 (+15)
9- Lindsey Lloyd 80-80=160 (+16)
10- Gabrielle McCord 79-82=161 (+17)
Click HERE to see who made the cut at the State Amateur and a more in-depth look at the Women’s State Am leaderboard.