USA Leads Japan at Collegiate Golf Championship

USA Leads Japan at Collegiate Golf Championship

7/13/2006

TOCHIGI PREFECTURE, Japan — The United States women’s team, coached by Vanderbilt’s Martha Richards Freitag, won both matches Thursday to help give the Americans an 8-4 lead after the first round of the 31st annual Fuji Xerox USA vs. Japan Collegiate Golf Championship at Sun Hills Country Club in Japan’s Tochigi prefecture.

Team USA won its first women’s match when UCLA’s Tiffany Joh carded a 69 and Duke’s Amanda Blumenherst converted three clutch putts down the stretch to win by two over Japan’s Erina Hara and Miki Saiki. Southern Cal’s Irene Cho and UCLA’s Jane Park followed by beating Japan’s Chika Yamamoto and Tomoko Yokoyama by three strokes.

Earlier in the day, the U.S. men’s squad, coached by Robert Linville of Greensboro College, played Japan even through four matches. Pepperdine’s Alex Coe and Coastal Carolina’s Dustin Johnson began the competition tying Japan’s Yuta Ikeda and Yuto Watanabe. Colin Clark of Guilford College (Division III) and Northwestern’s Dillon Dougherty then played even with Yohei Nakamichi and Daisuke Yasumoto. The Americans took their first lead when BYU’s Jake Ellison and Texas Tech’s Andrew Dresser claimed a six-stroke victory against Toru Nakajima and Masahiko Sanada. However, Japan would even the competition by claiming the final men’s match when Yuki Ito and Ayumi Kawamitsu downed South Carolina-Aiken’s Scott Brown and UCLA’s Erik Flores by three shots.

The second round will begin Friday. The competition runs through Saturday.

AGATE
31st Fuji Xerox USA vs. Japan Collegiate Golf Championship
Round One Results
Sunhills Country Club
United States 8
Japan 4
Alex Coe/Dustin Johnson, USA halved Yuta Ikeda/Yuto Watanabe, Japan, 139 Tied, 1-1
Colin Clark/Dillon Dougherty, USA halved Yohei Nakamichi/Daisuke Yasumoto, Japan, 150 Tied, 2-2
Andrew Dresser/Jake Ellison, USA def. Toru nakajima/Masahiko Sanada, Japan, 142-148 USA, 4-2
Yuki Ito/Ayumi Kawamitsu, Japan def. Scott Brown/Erik Flores, USA, 142-145 Tied, 4-4
Amanda Blumeherst/Tiffany Joh, USA def. Erina hara/Miki Saiki, Japan, 141-143 USA, 6-4
Irene Cho/Jane Park, USA def. Chika Yamamoto/Tomoko Yokoyama, Japan, 147-150 USA, 8-4

Round Two Pairings
Friday, July 14
Amanda Blumenherst USA vs. Tomoko Yokoyama, Japan
Tiffany Joh, USA vs. Miki Saiki, Japan
Irene Cho, USA vs. Erina hara, Japan
Jane Park, USA vs. Chika Yamamoto, Japan
Scott Brown USA vs. Yuki Ito, Japn
Alex Coe, USA vs. Yohei Nakamichi, Japan
Dillon Dougherty, USA vs. Masahiko Sanada, Japan
Jake Ellison, USA vs. Yuta Ikeda, Japan
Colin Clark, USA vs. Yuto Yasumoto, Japan
Andrew Dresser, USA vs. Daisuke Yasumoto, Japan
Erik Flores, USA vs. Ayumi Kawamitsu, Japan
Dustin Johnson, USA vs. Toru nakajima, Japan