Santa Cruz native and U.S. Solheim Cup captain Juli Inkster shared the lead at 1-under 71 with Laura Davies and Trish Johnson on Saturday after the first round of The Legends Championship in French Lick, Ind., on Saturday.
Rosie Jones, Lorie Kane, Wendy Doolan, Christa Johnson and Maggie Will were a stroke back in the 36-hole event in the difficult Pete Dye Course.
“You’ve got to hit the fairway. That’s the key,” said Inkster, a Harbor High alumna. “The speed on my putting wasn’t very good. I’ve got to clean that up before tomorrow.”
In the Super Legends competition for players 63 and older, Jan Stephenson shot a 73 to take a two-stroke lead over Judy Dickinson.
“I felt since I was a Super Legend I could shoot low because you hit a lot of wedges,” Stephenson said, “but there were also a lot of blind shots.”
Derby Girls
Bombshells fall to Resistance >> The Santa Cruz Derby Girls All-Stars, the Boardwalk Bombshells, returned home after placing third in the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association Division II playoffs last weekend and suffered a 196-150 loss to the Bay Area Derby Girls’ Berkeley Resistance at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium in the teams’ first meeting.
Due to recent injuries of key players, Santa Cruz was able to showcase some new faces on the track.
“Despite the loss, it felt really good to come home and play for our Santa Cruz fans,” said coach Valerie Andromacha-Atha, who skates as Valcohol. “We’re already looking ahead to next season. And it was great to have a chance to develop our bench.”
The Santa Cruz Derby Girls play again Oct. 17 at the Santa Cruz Civic at 6:30 p.m.
Pro soccer
Gooch a sub in Sunderland draw >> Santa Cruz native Lynden Gooch was a substitute for Sunderland during its Barclays Premier League match at Aston Villa. The two teams tied 2-2.
Gooch, a former standout at Soquel High, did not play. The 19-year-old striker made his debut with the team on Tuesday during its 6-3 victoyr over Exeter City.
Sunderland (0-2-2) will host Tottenham Hotspur on Sept. 13.
Pro tennis
Daniel falls short >> Taro Daniel, a Japanese player whose grandparents are longtime Soquel residents and whose parents also recently moved to the area, lost to Evgeny Donskoy 6-3, 6-2 Friday in a U.S. Open qualifying match, falling one round short of reaching the main draw.
Daniel earlier this month competed at the Comerica Bank Challenger in Aptos.
Yoshihito Nishioka, Matthew Ebden, Andrey Rublev, Elias Ymer also competed in Aptos and managed to advance to the U.S. Open main draw, which begins Monday.
Pro football
Levitre likely out as starter >> Offensive lineman Andy Levitre, who has started all 96 games since turning pro in 2009, didn’t start for the second straight preseason game for the Titans, who lost 34-10 to host Kansas City on Friday night.
The Felton native and San Lorenzo Valley High alum is still listed No. 1 on the team’s depth chart at left guard, ahead of Jamon Meredith and Quinton Spain, but appears to have lost his starting spot.
The Titans started the same unit up front for the second straight week: Taylor Lewan at left tackle, Byron Bell at left guard, Brian Schwenke at center, Chance Warmack at right guard and Jeremiah Poutasi at right tackle.
“It’s fair to say they’ve made a case for themselves,” Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt said after the loss. “I still think we’ve got time to work through some things, but they’ve done some good things and made a case to be the five guys.”