Ardina faces challenges ahead of Olympic debut

MANILA, Philippines -- Dottie Ardina heads into her Olympic debut facing challenges, having struggled in CPKC Women’s Open in Alberta, Canada Sunday (Monday Manila time), her final round 75 at the Earl Grey Golf Club course left her tied for 59th place.

Initially, Ardina seemed poised for an exciting finish, birdieing two of the first four holes. But back-to-back bogeys from No. 5 hindered her momentum and she was unable to recover, failng to get up-and-down on the par-3 ninth hole and dropping two more strokes on the par-4 11th, ultimately finishing with another bogey.

Concluding her four rounds with a score of 36-40 for a total of 295, Ardina’s performance was a stark contrast to her impressive showing in the previous week’s Dana Open, where she carded scores of 71-69-68-66 to post a strong joint seventh place finish in Ohio.

Throughout her time in Canada, the ICTSI-supported player recorded two rounds of 72, a 75, and finished with a 76, just a week before she embarks on the significant challenge of the Olympic Games in Paris, where she will compete against 59 of the world's best players.

The women’s golf competitions at the Olympics will kick off on August 7 at Le Golf National.

Dottie’s fellow Filipino golfer Bianca Pagdanganan, who is set to participate in her second Olympic Games, unfortunately missed the cut at the CPKC Open.

Meanwhile, Lauren Coughlin clinched the CPKC championship with a strong finish, securing two birdies in the last four holes to end her round with a 71 and a 275, finishing two strokes ahead of Japan’s Mao Saigo, who rallied with a 69 for a 277.

Erstwhile leader Haeran Ryu fell off the pace after making bogeys on the last three holes, ending with a 75 and ending up joint third place alongside fellow Korean Jenny Shin, who fired a second straight 67 for a 278.