COLORADO SPRINGS — It won’t be anytime soon, but Anya Sarai Alvarez some day may consider The Broadmoor’s East Course a home-field advantage. It already has a place in the 22-year-old’s scrapbook.
In early June, Alvarez led a qualifying field that sent three players into the U.S. Women’s Open. And, helped by an eagle on No. 2 in Saturday’s completion of a storm-delayed second round, Alvarez survived the cut in her first U.S. Open.
“I’m in another world right now,” Alvarez said after finishing the first two rounds at 7-over-par, making the cut by one shot. “I had some good memories from playing here before, and I think it helped on certain holes.”
But Alvarez’s course memory wasn’t the biggest factor in what proved to be the key shot in her round. Caddie Chive Smith, who works The Broadmoor on a regular basis, helped on that one at the par-4, 269-yard second hole.
“Chive said to hit it on the right side of the green and it’ll bounce back,” Alvarez said. “I hit my drive perfectly and it bounced back to about 4 feet. I made the putt for an eagle, and it pretty much was smooth sailing from there. Once I made that putt, I realized I was giving myself a chance.”
With the tee box moved well up on No. 2, it enticed golfers to try to drive the green.
Alvarez played the front nine as her final holes in round two from the storm-plagued action Friday. She went into the par-5 ninth hole knowing she needed at least a par on the 527-yard hole to make the cut.
“I was extremely nervous on the ninth,” Alvarez said. “I just wanted to get on the green and make two putts and make my par. I thought it would be good enough and it was.”
Smith joined the celebration.
“She had a bad start today,” Smith said. “I said she had to drop some birdies. We did what we had to do. If she’s happy, I’m happy.”
When the qualifying round was played on the same course as the Open, some questioned whether the three qualifiers would have an advantage from having recently played there.
While it may have helped Alvarez, that wasn’t necessarily the case for the other qualifiers — Mallory Blackwelder of Versailles, Ky., and Garrett Phillips of St. Simons Island, Ga., although they were longshots to make the cut. Blackwelder missed the cut by six strokes at 13-over 155. Phillips finished at 19-over 161.
“Definitely, it helped some,” Phillips said. “I knew my tee shots and the clubs I had to hit. I was prepared for that. But I didn’t play well. I had a lot of three-putts.”
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
