RICHMOND, KY (August 11, 2021) – MacKenzie Neal and Rikke Svejgaard were paired together in the first group of the Kentucky Women’s Amateur Stroke Play Championship and following the opening round, they are paired together in first place on the leaderboard. The Morehead State Eagle and Kentucky Wildcat each shot 71 (-1) at Boone’s Trace National Golf Club on Wednesday, putting them two strokes ahead of defending champion Ke’Asha Phillips and Ryan Bender.

Neal and Svejgaard completed their round in just over three hours showcasing fantastic pace of play in addition to their talented golf games. Both players recorded three birdies and two bogeys with pars the rest of the way in their round together to gain a share of the halfway lead.

Like the co-leaders, Phillips and Bender were also paired together in a twosome and fed off one another’s solid play to find themselves within striking distance of the lead entering Thursday’s final round. The top-four have some separation on the leaderboard with their closest pursuer, Alaina Schmitt, standing in fifth place after shooting 76 (+4). Sarah Arnold is in sixth place with 77 (+5).

Those six golfers compose the Open Division’s last two tee times of the final round, which are set for 1:40 p.m. EDT and 1:50 p.m on Thursday afternoon. Neal, Svejgaard and Bender will play in the final group at 1:50 p.m.

A net leaderboard is also in effect at this event which is commandingly led by Allison Gosney. A net score of 63 (-9) from her is six shots up on Neal, Bender and Schmitt.

There is also a Senior Division being contested which Cynthia Powell leads after day one. Powell, who comes in having won this same contest a year ago at Griffin Gate Resort, shot 84 (+12) on Wednesday which opens up a three-shot lead for her heading into round two. Cindy Summers is in second place while Jessica Corneliius and Teena Freibert are tied for third position, four strokes back of Powell.

Net scores are also in play for the seniors with Freibert leading that race with 75 (+3) being the top number on the board in that department. Sandra Morgan is one shot back of her while Karen Antis is two behind in solo third.

NOTES & STATS

• For the Open Division, the par-five 13^th was the first round’s toughest hole as its stroke-to-par average was +1.08. Phillips was the only player to record a gross birdie on this hole.
• The Open’s easiest hole was the par-three 8^th which was the only hole to sport an under-par average at -0.08. Only one score greater than par was logged on this hole from the Open Division.
• The front nine was certainly the more gettable of the two sides for the Open Division, as its average score was 38.31 compared to the back nine’s 40.70. Holes 10-14 played a major role in that, as four of Wednesday’s six hardest holes could be found in that five-hole stretch.
• The Open Division’s scoring average to open the competition was 79.01.

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