Pine-Richland’s Freyvogel, North Allegheny’s Wrigley make USGA cut

By: Kevin Lohman
Thursday, May 2, 2019 | 4:22 PM

Over the past few years, Pine-Richland’s Lauren Freyvogel and North Allegheny’s Caroline Wrigley have dueled on the golf course, jockeying for top honors at WPIAL championship and PIAA state title events while representing rival schools.

But during the last weekend in April, Freyvogel, the 2017 PIAA Class 3A champ, and Wrigley, the 2018 state champion, joined forces in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball championship at Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville, Fla.

The dynamic WPIAL girls golf duo successfully made the cut at the championship four-ball event, shooting back-to-back rounds of 71 in stroke play to tie for 26th at 2-under-par.

However, the Freyvogel-Wrigley pairing was tripped up in the Round of 32, succumbing to a pair of Duke recruits in Megan Furtney and Erica Shepherd, 7 and 6. Still, making the cut represented a great accomplishment for the WPIAL golfers as the USGA competition was filled with talent.

“We’re really happy with our efforts, especially because we’re coming from the North and that puts us at a little disadvantage because we haven’t had the weather to be able to play enough so that we could peak into midseason form right ahead of this,” Freyvogel said.

“So, we’re happy to have this experience, to make the cut and just really enjoy it here.”

While the timing of the tournament combined with the seasonal weather in Pittsburgh may have put the seniors from Pine-Richland and North Allegheny at a disadvantage, it didn’t seem to show. The pairing shot under par at a pro-style, par-72 course that charts 6,307 total yards.

At the very least, it was a significant learning experience, Freyvogel said, as they were exposed to Timuquana’s many challenging features.

“We drove the ball pretty well, but our iron shots coming onto the greens were tough because the greens were so fast. The ball would just hit and run out. Since it’s a Donald Ross-designed course, the greens are very undulated so it’s difficult to hold them,” Freyvogel said.

“Everything down here is Bermuda Grass, too, so it’s different from home. There’s an adjustment to hitting off this grass as compared to hitting it off the grass at home.”

In the end, it was a positive experience for Freyvogel and Wrigley. Partly because the longtime competitors and friendly rivals finally had the opportunity to play with each other as opposed to trying to catch one another.

“This is a great format, getting to play with a partner. We had a great time playing with each other,” Freyvogel said. “On the first day, I had a chip-in for birdie and then yesterday, Caroline chipped on in for a clutch birdie we needed, so we fed off each other the entire time and really just enjoyed playing together.”

Tags: North Allegheny, Pine-Richland