Nancy Cox of Ponte Vedra Beach made a late comeback in her opening-round match in the U.S. Women's Amateur on Aug. 6 at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tenn., before falling 1-up to Gianna Singh of Elk Grove, Calif.
Cox, who will be a junior at Oklahoma in the fall, was down three holes with five to play and won three of the next four, the last two with birdies, to draw even with Singh, who will be a freshman at Grand Canyon University.
Cox started her comeback by winning the 14th hole with a par to cut her deficit to 2-down. The players halved the 15th hole before Cox made a birdie 2 at the par-3 16th and a birdie 4 at the par-5 17th.
Singh then won No. 18 with a par to advance.
Cox tied for 28th in stroke play to easily make the match-play field
of 64. She had rounds of 75-71—146 and was 2-over.
Area players have solid summer in USGA events
Cox is the fourth First Coast player to advance to match play in United States Golf Association National Championships this summer. Miles Russell of Jacksonville Beach reached the championship match of the U.S. Junior Amateur, topping Tyler Mawhinney of Fleming Island in the semifinals, and Sofia Rivera of St. Augustine reached the second round in the U.S. Junior Girls.
Russell and Mawhinney are in the field for the U.S. Amateur, which begins on Aug. 10 at the Merion Golf Club and Philadelphia Country Club.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Rally by Nancy Cox of Ponte Vedra Beach falls short in U.S. Women's Amateur
