Jordan Ferreira of University Place, Wash. shot rounds of 77-70 for a combined 3-over par and took medalist honors in leading the field of 55 players who competed today in 36 holes of sectional qualifying at Rainier Golf and Country Club in Seattle, Wash. Her 2-under par 70 in the afternoon round set a new women's course record.
Carleigh Silvers, 23, is a professional from Greeley, Colo. who plays on the Cactus Tour and Symetra Tour, claimed the other available spot in this qualifier by shooting rounds of 75-75 for a combined 6-over par.
Ferreira and Silvers have earned spots in the 2014 U.S. Women's Open which is being held June 19-22 at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club's No. 2 course in the Village of Pinehurst, N.C.
The Washington State Golf Association (WSGA) is the local representative of the United States Golf Association (USGA) and conducted this qualifier for the U.S. Women's Open Championship.
After a morning round of 5-over par 77, Ferreira came out strong in the afternoon round with a birdie on the par-4 first hole, making the turn at 1-under for the round. She finished with birdies on holes 15 and 18, and her record-setting round of 2-under par 70 was the only sub-par round of the field.
Ferreira, 19, just finished her freshman year at the University of Notre Dame, where she had tied for eighth in her first collegiate tournament. She was twice named the WSGA's Junior Girls' Player of the Year (2011, 2012), won the 2012 Pacific Northwest Junior Girls' Amateur, tied for second in the 2013 Washington State Women's Amateur, and competed in the 2011 U.S. Women's Amateur as well as the 2012 U.S. Girls' Junior.
Aram Choi, an amateur from Surrey, B.C. claimed the first alternate spot, while Eimi Koga, an amateur from Honolulu is second alternate.
The USGA accepted 1,702 entries for the 2014 U.S. Women's Open Championship from 46 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and 52 foreign countries.
The U.S. Women's Open will be held at Pinehurst No. 2 the week after the U.S. Open. To be eligible, a female amateur player must have a Handicap Index not exceeding 2.4, or be a professional. Sectional qualifying is being held at 24 sites throughout the U.S. and China, Japan, England and Korea from May 5-30.
The U.S. Women's Open is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the USGA, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.
