Garvey leads North & South with a Pinehurst local close behind

July 15, 2019 | by AmateurGolf.com Staff

Amelia Garvey (USC Athletics photo)

Unsurprisingly, college players make up the bulk of the North & South leaderboard, but a local 17-year-old is holding her ground.

The last time we saw Amelia Garvey, she was sparring with Emily Toy in the final match of the Women’s Amateur Championship at Royal County Down. Garvey, a New Zealand native who is about to enter her junior season at USC, is back in action, but still far away from home. Garvey leads the North & South Women’s Amateur after one round of stroke play at Pinehurst No. 2.

Garvey’s opening-day card was dotted with six birdies and three bogeys. She has managed to hold off Baylor’s Gurleen Kaur by a shot so far in the race for the No. 1 seed.

“Really, I just was grinding out there,” Garvey said. “I really didn’t hit a lot of great shots, but my scrambling was so good, and my chipping was immaculate. I’m definitely happy with this number.”

Garvey has two other USC teammates within the top 10 after Day 1 – those include Allisen Corpuz (T-4, even-par 71) and Jennifer Chang (T-7, 1-over 72). Not surprisingly, the 90-player field is riddled with collegians.

Defending champion Stephanie Lau, who plays for Northwestern, is also part of the tie for seventh.

There’s a new name in the mix after the first round, too. Nicole Adam isn’t necessarily new to these parts – she’s the only Pinehurst player on the tee sheet, after all – but the high school senior is enjoying something of a coming-out party on the national stage this summer. Last month, she played her way into the final group at the inaugural Donna Andrews Invitational in Lynchburg, Va., and finished an eventual third.

Andrews, a renowned teacher based in Pinehurst, works with Adam’s swing.

“I’m really excited,” said the 17-year-old North Carolina commit. “It’s a great experience playing against all of these really high-level college players.”

With amateur golf’s best in town, Pinehurst No. 2 looked a little different than Adam is used to seeing it. A tougher setup hardly seemed to bother her, though.

The Nicole Adam highlight reel included a made 30-footer on No. 7 for one of her four birdies on the day.

“Definitely, the greens were faster,” she said. “I knew it was going to be very important to hit the middle of the greens, and I did that today.”

“That was one of my best rounds ever on No. 2,” she added.

Quotes from Pinehurst Resort used in this report

Results: North & South Women's Amateur

Place	Player	Location	Pts
Win	Gabriela Ruffels	, Australia	1200
Runner-up	Doey Choi	, Australia	900
Semifinals	Emilia Migliaccio	Cary, NC	700
Semifinals	Christine Wang	Houston, TX	700
Quarterfinals	Allisen Corpuz	Honolulu, HI	500

View full results for North & South Women's Amateur

About the North & South Women's Amateur

Garvey leads North & South with a Pinehurst local close behind

The Women's North & South has drawn the top amateur women from around the country. Three rounds of stroke play followed by four rounds of match play will determine the Champion. The 96 player field will be cut to a 16 player match play field and meda...