Early in the Epson Tour’s Casella Golf Championship, played in Guilderland, New York, a familiar name to many golf fans is in contention after a solid first round.
Maria Fassi, known for her incredible amateur career, long hitting and often colorful outfits, shot a stellar -2 69 in the morning wave, putting her in the thick of it on a difficult morning on the course.
Fassi got off to a bit of a roller-coaster start with a birdie on the first, a bogey on the second and another birdie on the third. Her round stabilized from there with seven pars in a row before a bogey on the par 3 11. She got that stroke right back on 12 though. From there, she made one more birdie on the par 5 17 surrounded by pars.
It is still early in this morning wave, but the course isn’t surrendering any breakout scores yet. Sophia Schubert leads the way, but Fassi is not far behind.
This is a big week for Fassi who, despite well-documented career struggles on the course, is still one of the most recognizable figures in women’s golf. Fassi was a two-time SEC player of the year at Arkansas, won the Individual National Championship in 2019 and was the first runner-up at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
Fassi’s pro career has been a bit of a different story. Fassi is currently ranked No. 421 in the Rolex Rankings. Since turning professional in 2019, Fassi has only had five individual top-10 finishes, her most recent coming in 2023. So far this year on the Epson Tour, Fassi has made just 4/7 cuts and hasn’t finished in the top 30.
This is an opportunity for Fassi to get back in form and get her season back on track.
