NCAA champ Carta advances in U.S. Women's Amateur

ONE PERSON, Vicki Goetze in 1992, has won the NCAA championship and U.S. Women's Amateur in the same year.

Only one Italian, Silvia Cavalleri in 1997, has won the U.S. Women's Am. And only one other player from that country, Edoardo Molinari, won a U.S. Amateur. He, of course, did so at Merion 11 years ago.

Duke sophomore-to-be Virginia Elena Carta - who is from Udine, located in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region between the Adriatic Sea and the Alps near the Slovenia border - is very much aware of all the history.

"Yes, I know," she said with a smile late Thursday afternoon at Rolling Green Golf Club in Springfield (Delco), after beating Ohio State's Jessica Porvasnik, 3 and 2, in the round of 16 at the 116th U.S. Women's Amateur. "But I want to focus on the big picture, like I did at nationals. I just want to think about every single shot. That was key."

In the morning, the 32nd seed had taken out No. 64 Muni He of China, 2 and 1; He had eliminated medalist Mariel Galdiano, from Hawaii, on Wednesday.

Carta will face Puerto Rico's Maria Torres in Friday morning's quarterfinals. Torres, seeded ninth, advanced with a 5 and 4 victory over No. 8 Dylan Kim from Texas. Because of some weather delays getting a flight, Torres didn't arrive at Philly International until Sunday afternoon. Which meant she didn't get in any practice rounds. But she said that might have actually helped her, since she feels fresher.

Carta's NCAA title in May was her first victory as a collegian.

"She has a lot of passion," Blue Devils coach Dan Brooks said at the time. "All we had to do was just kind of calm her down."

This week, she's wearing the Savoy Blue color of the Italian national soccer team. And her coach from back home, Roberto Zappa, is her caddie. But maybe the best thing is that she's found an Italian restaurant that actually cooks food the way she likes it.

"It's great to have (Zappa)," said Carta, who acknowledged she gained about 25 pounds (some of which she has lost) in her first year in North Carolina from eating so many cookies. "It's easier to speak to him (in her native language). But here everyone's Italian, so they probably all understand."

But about the cuisine . . .

"Over here, the pasta is (usually) super overcooked," she explained. "And I won't even talk about the pizza. It's completely different."

So at least there's been one less thing for her to worry about during her stay in Delaware County.

Against Porvasnik, the 17 seed, she won four straight holes to take a 4-up lead after seven. She recently switched to a lighter putter, and understandably still has a bunch of confidence from her NCAA win in Oregon, which then got her into the field of an LPGA Tour event in Ohio.

"The (NCAA title) was unexpected," said Carta, who won by eight after shooting 16-under, which broke the old scoring record by four. "I've kept my game going. This golf course is so tough. I usually don't hit 3-woods into par-3s. The greens are really fast. They're hilly and slopey. So I guess the name of the course makes sense."

At 21, Torres is the only player left who has reached legal drinking age. The last time a non-teenager won was 2008.

"I hate it when people call me a sophomore already," noted Carta, an environmental science and policy major. "I'd like it to be a freshman in transition.

"I was studying like seven or eight hours a day (during the first summer semester). It kept me busy."

The eight players left come from eight countries. The other quarters will match 27th-seeded Andrea Lee, of Hermosa Beach, Calif., against No. 14 Eun Jeong Seong, of Korea; No. 34 Hannah Green, of Australia, against No. 23 Mathilda Cappeliez, of France; and No. 4 Yuka Saso, from the Philippines, against No. 12 Nasa Hataoka, of Japan.

@mikekerndn