Hoffman and Troyanovich Miss Cut in Volvik Championship; Both Have Bright Futures Ahead of The

Ann Arbor, Michigan- It was a difficult day at the Volvik Championship. For Volvik sponsor invite Sarah Hoffman and Monday qualifier Samantha Troyanovich would both miss the cut to make it to the weekend in the inaugural Volvik Championship held at Travis Pointe Country Club in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Sarah Hoffman was just two shots off the projected current cut of +2 but unfortunately had a rough start at her 8:43 AM tee time. She started off on the par four 10^th. She found her way into the hazard off the tee, tried to get it out and was still in the hazard, hit her third shot and followed that up with making a tricky bogey putt to start put her at + 5. Hoffman would par the 11^th hole but lose another stroke to the field on the par 3 12^th and moving to +2 for the round and +6 for the first two days

After her 2^nd bogey in the first three holes, Hoffman would make 14 straight pars on the course to miss the cut by four shots.

Hoffman had this to say after the round “Today was a grind it out type day. I was hitting the ball so poorly. I made a lot of great pars.”

She mentioned that “I felt really good waking up today that I was going to go out and put a really good score up today.”

The course was playing a lot differently than when she played her first round. The greens were more receptive and the wind wasn’t as bad as it was the day before. When asked about her game she stated “I have the mental and grind it out game but I’ve only been doing this until for two months but my game is so bad right now.”

As Sarah was finishing her final putts on the 9^th hole, Samantha Troyanovich was about to begin her round on the 10^th tee. Troyanovich would then bogey her next two holes which would put her at +8 for the tournament. Troyanovich would par her next two holes and move on to the par 4 15^th. Troyanovich would double bogey the hole but a resurgence would happen when she tee’d off the par 3 16^th. She would go on to birdie the 16^th, 17^th and 18^th holes which would bring her within four shots with nine holes to play.

“After I doubled 15, I was just like okay take a deep breath, regroup a little bit and try to hit one good shot at a time. Birdied 16, 17 and 18 and made the turn feeling good.”

Throughout the front 9 of the course, Troyanovich was unable to card anything better than par through the first four holes on the front side of the course. Samantha would bogey the 5^th and 7^th holes. On the 9^th hole, she would hit a beautiful shot into the green leaving her with a short birdie putt but she was not able to capitalize. She would card a +4 (76) during her second round but would not make it to the weekend with a +9 for her two rounds in the Volvik Championship.

After her round, Sam said this about the inaugural event “I think this is an awesome first year event to see so many people out volunteers and spectators. The overall support is awesome.”

“I’m proud to be from Michigan. It’s great to see how great people from Michigan and people from the Midwest are.”

Both Sarah Hoffman and Troyanovich are each very talented golfers who could find themselves one day on the LPGA Tour. I walked the course with both players this week and I witnessed something that supports this theory and it isn’t based on their games (both are competitive and have the skills to compete at the highest level). I noticed the genuine and humble personalities that both of these girls possess. After her first round on Thursday, Sarah Hoffman just came off an interesting 18^th hole in which she parred. Hoffman had a huge crowd of family and friends watching her. After the round, Hoffman took the time before meeting with the media to autograph golf balls for the volunteers in her group. When she realized a volunteer didn’t get one, she quickly ran to give them one. This shows me a caring and genuine personality that fits the growing image of the LPGA.

I witnessed the same experience with the Samantha Troyanovich. Samantha would say “Thank you” to every volunteer on the course. The traits that both of these young players have demonstrated should show why women’s professional is going to keep growing globally because of players like Sam and Sarah.

We are a Michigan Golf blog and we love our state because it’s a golfing paradise here. Although we cannot see if these girls are going to make it to the LPGA this year, we wish them the best of luck following their dreams.