MIDLAND, Mich. — Cheyenne Knight and Elizabeth Szukol birdied six of their last eight holes in alternating play for an 8-under 62 and 3-putt Friday at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, the LPGA Tour’s only team event.
Knight putt a 25-foot birdie par-3 18th in windy conditions at Midland Country Club to break the tournament’s alternate shot putt record and the 54-hole scoring mark at 18-under 192.
“It’s absolutely amazing,” said Szokol. “We love this event. It’s so much fun that Dow did this for us. It’s a unique format, and this is the only event [team] The event we are going to play this year. It’s amazing to be in the record books at this event.”
Matilda Castrin and Kelly Tan came in second after 68. They came in second last year.
“We’ll really try to go out and have fun tomorrow,” Tan said. “It’s the best ball, so we’re going to birdie and hopefully see where it puts us at the end of the round.”
Knight won the 2019 LPGA Ascendant title for her only outing, while Szokol went winless. The American duo tied for fourth last year after missing the cut in 2021.
“We’re really good friends, so I think we’re very comfortable playing together,” said Szokull. “We know each other very well and I have a lot of confidence going into the Cheyenne game. It makes it much easier to substitute shot.”
Knight and Szokol also started quickly with birdies on three of the first holes. They dropped a stroke on No. 8 and played nine linebacker in the 6-U29. They had a 61 on Thursday in better ball play, as well as final round form on Saturday.
“We tried not to excite ourselves with a substitute shot because it’s a difficult format,” Knight said. “I think we said to each other yesterday, ‘You can make a birdie on an alternate take. ‘ I think you have to kind of think like you can make a birdie and just try to be aggressive and brave rather than try not to make a mistake.”
Judy Ewart Schadoff and Emma Talley are tied for third at age 13 under Celine Borg and Polly Mack. He launched the Shadow Next 70, and the Borg Mac 68.
Stacy Lewis and Maria Vasi were under 12s with Celine Pottier and Yuka Sasso. Louis Fassi scored 66 shots and Pottier Sassou 70.
Second round leaders Paula Retto and Amelia Lewis scored 73 goals on the day after shooting 61 in a better ball game. They are tied for seventh in the 11-under with Anna Belak and Bianca Pagdanjanan. Belak and Bagdangan had 66.
Tournament officials announced Friday that the 2024 event will take place between June 27-30 with the first Sunday finish. The switch was made from July to June due to the Paris Olympics.