There were two big changes for the First Coast Women’s Amateur this year.
The Championship and Senior Championship divisions were expanded from 36 to 54 holes — which meant that World Amateur ranking points were available for the first time.
Good players took notice.
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Ana Maria Jimenez Rios, a native of Mexico who will be a junior at Tampa University this fall, overcame two momentum-interrupting bogeys on the front nine and with birdies at Nos. 16 and 17 grabbed a three-shot lead on Monday in the first round of the FCWA at 4-under 68 at the TPC Sawgrass Dye’s Valley.
First Coast Women’s Amateur leaderboard
First Coast Women’s Amateur Tuesday groups, starting times
Wendy Hsiao, from Taiwan and a senior at Stetson University, is second with a 71, falling prey to the water hazards off the tee at the Valley to lose the steam she built up with birdies on four of her first five holes.
She’s still in solo second, a shot clear of Mackenzie McCormack (72) a Bartram Trail graduate who is coming off her senior year at Palm Beach Atlantic.
Nancy Cox, a rising senior at Ponte Vedra High School who has verbally committed to Florida Atlantic, and Hannah Cheryl Alan of Dubai, who has committed to Kennesaw State for the 2024 season, are tied at 1-over 73.
Defending champion Elizabeth Kondol, a Bartram Trail graduate and a member of the Rollins College golf team (as was the course designer, Pete Dye), Apryl Parker, an Epsicopal graduate now playing at Eckerd and Lindsey Hollis of Signal Mountain, Tenn., and a Wofford senior, are tied at 2-over 74.
Rios was sharp with his irons
It’s a diverse leaderboard in terms of nationality, hometown and college team. If Rios is correct, it may be the norm for the FCWA as the top amateur players could make it a regular stop to chase World Amateur points.
“It’s how I found out about the tournament,” she said. “I was looking tournaments up on the WAGR website and I had the spot on my calendar. I think a lot of players were thinking the same way.”
Rios had her iron game in fine form to set up four birdies on the front nine. Her longest birdie putt was a 20-footer at No. 3.
She slipped a bit with bogeys at Nos. 6 and 9 but made six pars in a row before pouncing on the par-5 16th and 17th holes to make a pair of 6-foot birdie putts.
“You’ve got to hit it straight off the tee on this course because there’s so much water,” she said. “It’s very mentally challenging. It’s not too tight. But if you see water you can get scared. You just have to trust yourself.”
Hsiao on fire to start
No one got off to a hotter start than Hsiao, who birdied Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 5, all on putts of 8 feet or less. She then dropped an 18-footer for birdie at No. 10 to go to 4-under but then bogeyed Nos. 14, 15 and 16 — the latter two after dousing her tee shots.
“I was just out there playing golf and the tempo was good,” she said. “I was hitting really pure second shots and had a lot of birdie opportunities but I started hitting bad drives. I got it fixed on the last hole.”
Kondal, who won by eight shots at the King & Bear last year, said the 54-hole format gives her time to sort things out.
“I definitely think the tournament has turned into a marathon rather than a sprint,” she said. “This course is tighter than [the King & Bear] and I think you’ve got to stay focused throughout. My round didn’t take me out of contention. I have two more days to play solid golf.”
Sunderland leads Seniors
In the Senior Champions division, Krisstyle Sunderland of McDonough, Ga., who won the Georgia Senior Match Play last month, battled back from 1-over on the front nine to make four birdies and an eagle at No. 17 on the back (along with two more bogeys) for an eventful 69 and a three-shot lead over Therese Quinn of Jacksonville. Tama Caldabaugh of Ponte Vedra Beach is third after a 73.
Sunderland led the field with six birdies in the first round and also had four bogeys. She is the former golf coach at South Carolina-Beaufort and the University of North Dakota.
The Super Senior and Senior Field divisions will begin play on Tuesday while the Championship and Senior Championship divisions play their second rounds. The tournament concludes on Wednesday.
Admission is free.
First Coast Women’s Amateur
At TPC Sawgrass Dye’s Valley
Championship Division (par-72, 6,123 yards)
Ana Maria Jimenez Rios 34-34–68
Wendy Hsiao 33-38–71
Mackenzie McCormack 34-38–72
Hannah Cheryl Alan 35-38–73
Nancy Cox 35-38–73
April Parker 37-37–74
Elizabeth Kondol 36-38–74
Lindsey Hollis 37-37–74
Madelyn Campbell 38-37–75
Danielle Dailey 36-39–75
Olivia Florence 35-40–75
Shanya Arasu 39-37–76
Alexandra Drum 41-36–77
Lisa Cole 40-38–78
Wyndom Burnett 39-39–78
Gaby Shortridge 42-37–79
Jasmine Yang 40-39–79
Jody Clark 37-43–80
Madison Balaskiewicz 41-39–80
Haley Quickel 39-41–80
Georgia Blount 49-41–80
Maddie Rathjen 42-39–81
Emma Wells 40-41–81
Kylie Turner 39-44–83
Carleigh Carter 43-41–84
Sarah Scott 44-40–84
Jenna Fonda 45-40–85
Sloane Siebert 44-41—85
Sadaly Campbell 45-42–86
Grayson Kindig 42-44–86
Christina Steffen 44-44–88
Ashley Huffman 41-49–90
Annabelle Mozingo 46-436–92
Madison Melton 51-44–95
Senior Championship (par-72, 5,465 yards)
Kristy Sunderman 37-32—69
Therese Quinn 38-34—72
Tama Caldabaugh 38-35–73
Danielle Davis 36-39–75
Susie Keane 38-37–75
Leslie Olive Henry 38-38–76
Lynn Culver 38-39–77
Beatriz de Arenas 40-37–77
Susan West 43-34—77
Anna Schultz 39-39–78
Jewell Matlick 40-38–78
Sherri Buster 40-41–81
Carolyn Creekmore 41-42–83
Sarah Phillips-Durst 43-40–83
Christine Hunt 43-41—84
Shauna Snyder 41-45–86
Nancy Beck 44-42–86
Jennifer Hawkins 38-42–90
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Ana Maria Jimenez Rios grabs three-shot lead in First Coast Women’s Amateur