Links: Results
It’s been seven years since Liz (Janangelo) Caron won her fourth consecutive Connecticut Women’s Open, and two years since she has played any serious competition, but the Rockrimmon CC teaching professional is back in familiar territory atop the leaderboard in the 15th playing of the Connecticut Women’s Open Championship.
Conducted by the Connecticut State Golf Association, the Connecticut Women’s Open is a 36-hole stroke play competition being played at Tumble Brook Country Club in Bloomfield, Connecticut on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 28th and 29th. The tournament is open to any amateur or professional female golfer regardless of residency, and annually attracts some of the top competitors from across the country.
Winner of the Women's Open from 2003 through 2006, Caron recorded five birdies and two bogeys for a 3-under 69 over the par-72, 5,842 yard, Tumble Brook Country Club in Bloomfield. She shares the lead with Ashli Bunch of Morristown, Tennessee. Bunch, a veteran of the LPGA and Symetra tours with over $720,000 in career earnings, recorded four birdies against just one bogey for her 69.She finished 7th at the LPGA Symetra Friends of Mission Charity Classic last week in Asheville, North Carolina.
One stroke back of Caron and Bunch is defending champion Megan Khang, 15, of Rockland, Massachusetts, and Mia Landegren, 18, of Bridgewater, who each shot 70 and were the only other players in the field of 75 to break par. Landegren, who helped the Swedish National Team capture the 2012 European Girls Championship, is looking for her first Women’s Open title. She recorded a total of four birdies and an eagle and sat atop the leaderboard through 11 holes. Closing bogies on Holes #14 and #18 dropped her back to a tie for third.
Khang, who entered the Women's Open as the 12th ranked junior golfer in the country, cited a balky putter, but was pleased with her ball-striking. “Tumble Brook is a nice layout, and the greens are challenging. I just need to keep working on my putting,” said Khang.
Other notable players in contention include 2008 champion, and 2012 runner-up, Liz Valentine, and Isabelle Lendl, who finished third in last year’s championship. Six shots back after shooting 75, Valentine is tied for sixth. Lendl, at 74, is alone in fifth.
Play in the final round of the 36-hole championship begins at 8:00am Wednesday off holes one and ten. Admission is free and the public is invited to attend. Live scoring and updates can be found on the official tournament website at CTWomensOpen.com.
