Guce cards 72; Superal, Cyna struggle

MANILA, Philippines - Filipina Clariss Guce turned in a gutsy one-over 72 to stay in early contention for low medal honors but Princess Superal and Cyna Rodriguez floundered with a pair of 76s at the start of the US Women’s Amateur Championship elims in South Carolina Monday.

Guce, playing out of Cal State Northridge, knocked down one birdie against two bogeys while salvaging a number of pars at the long par-71, 6473-yard Country Club of Charleston that yielded just one-under par round from a starting field of 156.

Allisen Corpuz of Honolulu birdied two of the last five holes to fire a 68 and seize a two-stroke lead over fancied Emily Tubert and seven others in the first round of the 36-hole stroke play elims with the top 64 advancing to the match play phase.

Guce, daughter of former top Philippine jockey Ramon, now a resident of California, steadied after dropping a shot on No. 2, stringing a number of pars before birdying No. 15.

Guce, spearhead of the Matadors squad with four top 10 finishes in the season, including a victory in the Red Rocks Invitational in Arizona last March, missed another chance on the par-5 15th and failed to save a long par-putt bid on the 18th for a 37-36 round for joint ninth with 10 others.

In contrast, Superal and Rodriguez will have a lot of catching up to do after the ICTSI-backed bets both struggled with seven bogeys against two birdies each to drop to joint 54th with 16 others.

Superal, who teamed up with Daniella Uy to cop the team gold in the recent Junior World in San Diego, bounced back from bogey-bogey opening with a birdie on No. 8 but found the going tough at the back with bogeys on Nos. 11, 13 and 14. She rolled in a six-footer for birdie on No. 16 but made a bogey-bogey finish for a 37-39 card.

Rodriquez, winner of the Long Beach and Sacramento tournaments last month, also wavered early, bogeying four of the first 10 holes, hit a birdie on the 12th but dropped strokes again on Nos. 14, 15 and 18 against a second birdie on No. 16.