CITY OF INDUSTRY, CALIFORNIA – After a near two-hour delay to the resumption of first-round play at the second-annual Volvik Championship on Saturday, the skies cleared and play resumed at 9:11 a.m. at Industry Hills Golf Club at Pacific Palms Resort.
Jane Rah, who has 14 career top-10 finishes on the Epson Tour, played a steady 1-under-par round to grab a share of the lead with Jaclyn Jansen and Kim Kaufman. Rah had three birdies and one bogey on the day.
Nine other players still on the course when play suspended are 1-under. Only 36 players have finished 18 holes due to the severe weather this weekend.
Rah played just one hole on Friday before ferocious winds and sideways rain forced her off the course.
“I was thankful to get called in on number two yesterday because the wind was blowing right to left and there was water left and I was so relieved yesterday,” said Rah. “It was a bit of a struggle today because I was out here for so long since I got here (course) at 6:00 a.m. so it was just a long day.”
The 23-year-old finished her day with three straight pars to end the round at the top of the leaderboard.
“I’m just glad that I got through the round and it’s a little surprising that nobody has had a great round yet,” said Rah. “Tomorrow I know that I can be more aggressive because it’s the last day so I better just go for it.”
Play was suspended in the afternoon at 2:37 p.m. due to lightning in the area, strong winds and heavy rain.
Jansen, a second-year Epson Tour player, finished with a birdie on the 18th to move to 1-under for the tournament. She also closed the front nine strong with back-to-back birdies.
Kaufman, who played college golf at Texas Tech, made three birdies and had just one bogey. Kaufman had a strong final round 2-under at the first event of the year, the Visit Mesa Gateway Classic at Longbow Golf Club.
The Epson Tour already announced on Friday that the Volvik Championship will be a 36-hole event.
Details regarding the continuation of the first-round will be announced later tonight.
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