Janice Olivencia of Guarbo, Puerto Rico, and the University of Texas defeated the rising sophomore at Vanderbilt University 4 and 3 on Pinehurst No. 2 Wednesday afternoon to gain a berth in a Thursday morning quarterfinal match against Sarah Huarte of Shingle Springs, Calif.
The match ended on the same 169-yard, par-3 15th hole where Wood closed out Adrienne Millican for the 2002 title. Olivencia sank an eight-foot putt at the 15th for her sixth birdie of the round to seal the win over Wood.
“She was making greens and making shots too,” Olivencia said. “With the defending champion, you just have to play hard. She is a great player. It’s an honor to play against her, and to beat her is an honor.”
Olivencia’s springy demeanor during the round against Wood and in her 2 and 1 victory over Katie Allison in a morning match lent support to her claim that winning a championship is not paramount.
“It’s just about fun and just playing golf,” she said afterwards. “If I get to the finals or semi-finals it’s awesome too. It’s about playing golf and playing in Pinehurst, and that’s huge. Anybody in Puerto Rico right now would love to be in my place playing on Pinehurst No. 2.”
A blistering putter contributed to the enjoyment for the rising senior for the Longhorns in a big way. She needed only 18 putts to make it through the 15 holes, sinking one to go one-up after the first hole. She said that stroke set up the rest of the round against the 6-foot-1½ Wood, who hails from Signal Mountain, Tennessee.
“The tee shot wasn’t good, but my approach shot was unbelievable and my putt went straight in the hole,” she said. “After that, you know that if you can knock it within 10 feet, you can make birdie. I just had the momentum going after that hole.”
The long-hitting Wood dropped her approach shot from just over 100 yards on the 410-yard second to within eight feet and sank the putt to even the match. Olivencia needed a sand save to halve the third and one putts to stay even on four and five. The golfers exchanged bogeys on six and seven and approached the final nine all-square after shooting three-under-par 34s on the front.
“That’s where I thought I had to be a little more aggressive and I needed to make a lot of putts,” she said. “I know the back nine is longer and she could take advantage of that because she hits it so long. I just had to take advantage of every single shot and that’s what I did.”
One of four members of the Longhorn squad, which finished third in this spring’s NCAA tournament, entered in the North and South field, she went one-up on the 469-yard, par-5 10th. She got on in two and two putted while Wood put her second shot in the right-side bunker and sent her third shot over the other side of the green.
Following halves on 11 and 12, Olivencia’s irons caught fire as she stuck her next three approach shots to within nine, 15 and eight feet, birdieing two of the three to close out the match.
The defending champion needed a birdie on the 18th hole to win her morning match against Wake Forest golfer Ashley Hoagland. A tearful Wood, who also won the 2001 North and South Junior Championship, knew the loss wasn’t just about her own mistakes, but about how well her opponent was playing.
“She made everything,” Wood said. “It’s hard to beat someone who’s making birdies.”
Olivencia finished tied for sixth individually in this year’s NCAA event.
Three of her teammates were also entered in the North and South. Two of them joined Olivencia in earning berths in the match-play portion. One of those teammates, Perry Swenson of Charlotte, eliminated Pinehurst’s Josie Shinn 5 and 4 Wednesday morning. After beating Wood, Olivencia mostly talked about enjoying the game of golf.
“I was just playing golf,” she said. “That’s why I started playing the sport because I love it. When you’re playing good and you have good momentum, you just enjoy every shot you make and that’s what it’s all about. It was just my lucky day. I had awesome momentum going.”
