Samantha Smolen
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — After receiving a bye through to the round-of-16 at the Jones/Doherty Women's Amateur, medalist and No. 1 seed Samantha Smolen of Lynn University narrowly defeated Casey Weidenfeld 2-and-1 to advance to the quarterfinals.
Smolen, a senior from Lake Worth, Fla. who shot 73 in the stroke play qualifying to earn the first seed, will face No. 9 seed Mika Liu in Thursday's quarterfinal round. Liu, a 15-year-old from Beverly Hills, Calif., is the sixth-ranked women's amateur player in the world according to the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com rankings.
In 2014, Liu won the Women's Western Amateur after earning medalist honors, as well, and reached the round-of-64 at the U.S. Women's Amateur.
Liu had a 9-and 7 win against Maria Kirby in the first round followed by a 6-and-4 victory over Julie Carmichael on Wednesday in the round-of-16.
The No. 2 seed, LSU sophomore Carly Ray Goldstein, was upset on Wednesday by 15-year-old Julia Matzat, who defeated Goldstein 5-and-4. Matzat will face No. 7 seed Tara Joy Connelly in Thursday's quarters.
Three-seed Rinko Matsunaga is through to the next round after a 6-and-4 victory over Danielle Proctor. She'll match up with No. 6 seed Gina Clark on Thursday.
For a look at the current match play bracket, please click the link below.
Match Play Bracket
ABOUT THE Jones/Doherty Women's Amateur
The third event on the "Orange Blossom" circuit of
ladies events in Florida, with an illustrious list of past
champions
including Patty Berg, JoAnne Carner, Babe Zaharias
and
Marlene Stewart Streit, Natalie Gulbis, Michelle
McGann, Vicki
Goetze, Charley Hull and Lexi Thompson.
Tournament
consists of two divisions (Women's and Senior
Women's) playing an 18-hole qualifying for
match play flights in each division as follows:
Championship Flight of 16, First Flight of 16, Second
Flight
of 8.
View Complete Tournament Information