FIRST ROUND SUSPENDED DUE TO DARKNESS AFTER MORNING SHOWERS
The first round of the Windsor Golf Classic was suspended at 7:49 a.m. PDT this morning—19 minutes into the action—because of continuous rain that led to unplayable course conditions. At 12:30 p.m. local time, play resumed.Thanks to the weather delay of four hours and 41 minutes, play was again suspended at 7:36 p.m. PDT due to darkness with 72 individuals still to complete round one. Competition is set to resume tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. and the second round will begin no earlier than 10:45 a.m. tomorrow.SANZ BARRIO REMINDED OF FIRST EPSON TOUR WIN
The 2018 FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship at Battle Creek Country Club was where Marta Sanz Barrio (Madrid, Spain) first stepped into the winner’s circle on the Epson Tour. As the overnight co-leader at Windsor Golf Club, the Spaniard noticed a bit of similarity from course to course.“That’s the first thing I thought when I played on Tuesday afternoon,” said Sanz Barrio, who fired a 5-under par today with seven birdies and two bogeys. “When we were playing the back nine for a practice round, I thought how this looked like Battle Creek so much. The trees are dead, but apart from that.”
Sanz Barrio could tell this performance was coming soon. After back-to-back top-25 results, she felt her game was on the doorstep of another level.
“I’ve been playing really well the last three events and getting good scores, but not as good as I thought I was playing,” Sanz Barrio said. “I thought this was going to be a good day to stay calm and beat the field mentally. It was one of those days your putts go in and you shoot a low score.”
THE BIRTHDAY WEEK THAT KEEPS ON GIVING
On Tuesday, Kyung Kim (Chandler, Arizona) celebrated her 25th birthday. It may only be fitting then that the golf gods looked down on a rain-filled day at the Windsor Golf Classic and provided another gift to the University of Southern California alumna in the form of a bogey-free, 5-under par 67.
“It was an interesting round, didn’t hit that many greens so chipping helped me a lot,” said Kim, who managed only 12-of-18 greens in regulation. “Had a lot of pars and made a few putts. Haven’t been playing too bad lately, now just need more putts to drop.”
Kim enjoyed some low-key celebrations for her special day, but did mention there could be one thing that contributed to her solid first round.
“Ice cream is the key, ice cream every day,” Kim said laughingly. “Did have three cakes this week. Ate dinner with friends on my birthday and a lot of cake, lot of desserts. I turned 25, so quarter-life crisis.”
NOTABLE QUOTES
Amy Boulden (-4, T3) on the mentality needed to battle through day one:“Obviously, you have to prepare for whatever. That was my mindset going into today, that I have to start off with a low score because you don’t know how many rounds we are going to get in. It was just a long morning, the conditions I’m quite used to with where I’m from. The course is nice, though, and the greens were rolling really well. It’s still in good shape and there’s a lot of chances out there.”
Perrine Delacour (-4, T3) on playing the first round in nine hours and 34 minutes:
“I actually did it once, last year or two years ago on the LPGA Tour in New Zealand. It took us almost 30 hours to play 18 holes because of the delays. It turns out pretty good because there’s players that will only play a few holes and have to finish the rest tomorrow. I’m pretty lucky for that.”
Bailey Tardy (+2, T94) on being the first group off and starting her round in the pouring rain:
“I don’t really have an opinion, to be honest. If the course wasn’t under water, I think it’s playable but it was under water. It was already wet and the fairways are very sloshy. Even though it’s lift, clean and place, the rough is real thick and even more wet. There will be a lot of people taking relief from water.”
PLAYER NOTES
Marta Sanz Barrio
- Sanz Barrio, 26, is from Madrid, Spain
- Three-time All-SEC Second Team selection for Auburn University was also named to the 2011 SEC All-Freshman Team
- Won the 2014 Ingaro Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour (LET) Access Series
- Finished T43 at the Final Stage of the 2014 LPGA Qualifying Tournament to earn Priority List Category 17 status for the 2015 LPGA Tour season
- Ladies European Tour (LET) member with more than 40 career starts, including a career-best showing of T6 at the 2015 ISPS Handa New Zealand Women’s Open
- Represented native country at the 2018 Mediterranean Games, leading Spain to the team title and capturing individual gold medalist honors
- Total of 34 career starts on the Epson Tour entering 2019 and became a first-time champion at the 2018 FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship at Battle Creek Country Club
- Really big soccer fan and especially huge supporter of Real Madrid CF
Kyung Kim
- Kim, 25, is from Chandler, Arizona
- Competed as part of the West Team at the 2011 Wyndham Cup
- Member of Team USA for the 2011 Junior Solheim Cup in Ireland
- Captured the 2012 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship title
- Three-time All-Pac 12 First Team performer for the University of Southern California
- Three-time Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-American, including a First Team selection in 2013 and 2014
- Made 14 starts as a rookie on the Epson Tour in 2017 with a season-best solo fourth result in the Gateway Classic at Longbow Golf Club
- Across 17 events last year, played the weekend 13 times and finished tied for eighth on two occasions (Donald Ross Classic, FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship)
- Finished T1 at the Second Stage of the 2018 LPGA Qualifying Tournament to advance to the inaugural LPGA Q-Series at Pinehurst Resort
- Career-best solo third showing at the 2019 Florida’s Natural Charity Classic in March
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