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Rossi’s Spectacular Run at the 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur Ends in Semifinals
8/7/2021 8:50:00 PM | Women's Golf
It was another deep run in the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship for a member of the Michigan State women's golf team. A year after Michigan State's Valery Plata made it to the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur, sophomore Valentina Rossi put together a run of her own in 2021, as she also reached the semifinals of the nation's premiere amateur event.
>> USGA Women's Amateur Championship Home
"It was amazing," Rossi said. "I was not expecting it, but I'm so, so happy. The first two days I played really well but wasn't expecting to be able to get all the way to semifinals."
Rossi said the call she got from her MSU teammates and coaches, especially after her quarterfinal win, was one of her most special moments of the tournament.
"They all called me together from Lasch (Golf Center)," Rossi said. "It was so great and it made me feel so good. I just said 'thank you for being here for me!'"
One of Rossi's Spartan teammates, Plata, made an additional impact on her. It was last year that Plata became the first player from MSU to reach the semifinals of the U.S. Women's Amateur. Rossi said she spent a lot of time with Plata early in this year's tournament at Westchester Country Club in Rye, N.Y., and took a lot of her wisdom.
"Valery being in the semifinals last year gave me a feeling that I could do it, too," Rossi said. "It was great to practice with her the first day we were out here. We talked a lot while we were here, and it helped me."
Rossi finished the two-round stroke play portion of the event tied for 12th place. Plata tied for 29th, also advancing to match play.
Rossi advanced from the round of 64, getting past Hannah Holzmann in 19 holes. She then defeated Valeria Mendizabal in the round of 32, 4 and 3. Plata, however, bowed out of the tournament in the round of 32.
In the round of 16, it took 20 holes for Rossi to eventually defeat Hailey Borja to reach the next round. Rossi again used an extra hole in the quarterfinals as she birdied what was the 19th hole between her and Brooke Seay.
Rossi said going to an extra hole in the round of 64 gave her confidence later in the tournament when having to go beyond 18 holes to settle a match.
"The first match I was so nervous," Rossi said. "But after that I thought I had an advantage because I had done it before. Those next two wins in extra holes were amazing."
On Saturday against Yu-Chiang Hou, who plays at Arizona, Rossi trailed by one at the turn. She was down two after 12 holes, but was able to square up the match with two holes to play. Hou, however, took the 17th and 18th holes to win the match and advance to the championship on Sunday.
In her first year for the Spartans last season, Rossi played in eight events and posted a 74.87 average. She finished 14th at the Big Ten Championships and played in both the NCAA Louisville Regional and NCAA Championships for the Spartans.
>> USGA Women's Amateur Championship Home
"It was amazing," Rossi said. "I was not expecting it, but I'm so, so happy. The first two days I played really well but wasn't expecting to be able to get all the way to semifinals."
Rossi said the call she got from her MSU teammates and coaches, especially after her quarterfinal win, was one of her most special moments of the tournament.
"They all called me together from Lasch (Golf Center)," Rossi said. "It was so great and it made me feel so good. I just said 'thank you for being here for me!'"
One of Rossi's Spartan teammates, Plata, made an additional impact on her. It was last year that Plata became the first player from MSU to reach the semifinals of the U.S. Women's Amateur. Rossi said she spent a lot of time with Plata early in this year's tournament at Westchester Country Club in Rye, N.Y., and took a lot of her wisdom.
"Valery being in the semifinals last year gave me a feeling that I could do it, too," Rossi said. "It was great to practice with her the first day we were out here. We talked a lot while we were here, and it helped me."
Rossi finished the two-round stroke play portion of the event tied for 12th place. Plata tied for 29th, also advancing to match play.
Rossi advanced from the round of 64, getting past Hannah Holzmann in 19 holes. She then defeated Valeria Mendizabal in the round of 32, 4 and 3. Plata, however, bowed out of the tournament in the round of 32.
In the round of 16, it took 20 holes for Rossi to eventually defeat Hailey Borja to reach the next round. Rossi again used an extra hole in the quarterfinals as she birdied what was the 19th hole between her and Brooke Seay.
Rossi said going to an extra hole in the round of 64 gave her confidence later in the tournament when having to go beyond 18 holes to settle a match.
"The first match I was so nervous," Rossi said. "But after that I thought I had an advantage because I had done it before. Those next two wins in extra holes were amazing."
On Saturday against Yu-Chiang Hou, who plays at Arizona, Rossi trailed by one at the turn. She was down two after 12 holes, but was able to square up the match with two holes to play. Hou, however, took the 17th and 18th holes to win the match and advance to the championship on Sunday.
In her first year for the Spartans last season, Rossi played in eight events and posted a 74.87 average. She finished 14th at the Big Ten Championships and played in both the NCAA Louisville Regional and NCAA Championships for the Spartans.
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