Michigan Golf Journal July 2021

Two MSU Golfers Heading to U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship Valery Plata, MSU By Tom Lang College Corner Michigan State rising sophomore Valentina Rossi has qualified for the 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship. Rossi did so by shooting a 2-under-par 69 in a qualifier on June 21 at Sunningdale Country Club in Scarsdale, N.Y. She finished tied for third in the event where the top five players all earned a spot in this year’s tournament, which will take place August 2-8 at Westchester Country Club in Rye, N.Y. Rossi ended her freshman year for the Spartans with a 74.87 scoring average. She played a major role in the Spartans winning the 2021 Big Ten Championship when she tied for 14 th overall with a 1-over-par 217. Rossi is the second Spartan to punch her ticket to the 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur, joining Valery Plata , who received an automatic bid by way of her reaching the semifinal round of the same tournament last year – where she ended up getting knocked off by 2019 U.S. Amateur champ Gabriella Ruffels, 2&1, at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Maryland. At the Amateur, Plata was the No. 2 seed in match play by virtue of finishing at 2-under par in stroke play. Plata, who has two years of college eligibility remaining, was the 2019-20 Big Ten Player of the Year and received a sponsor’s exemption into the Meijer LPGA Classic in mid-June in Grand Rapids, where, as the only amateur in the field, she made the cut and finished T70. To provide some perspective, Plata placed 2-strokes ahead of playing partner Jeongeun Lee6, who previously finished T12 in the U.S. Women’s Open. Plata also played in the final group in on Sunday with World No. 1 Jin Young Ko, who finished with 5-under the last day to tie for T57. 2021 Big Ten Women’s Golf Awards: Big Ten Freshman of the Year: Monet Chun, Michigan All-Big Ten Teams First Team Monet Chun, Michigan Ashley Lau, Michigan Valery Plata, Michigan State Second Team Hailey Borja, Michigan Paz Marfa Sans, Michigan State Yurika Tanida, Michigan State Big Ten Sportsmanship Honorees: Ashley Lau, Michigan Paz Marfa Sans, Michigan State MGJ