SOUTH BEND — You can say that Natalie Sheary has the luck of the Irish on her side this week.

On Thursday, she got an all-access tour of the Notre Dame campus and the football facility and on Friday she carded a 4-under 68 to share the 18-hole lead with UNC Tar Heels Casey Grice (College Station, Texas) and Katherine Perry (Cary, North Carolina) at the Four Winds Invitational.

There were 26 players that finished under par and 52 at even par or better.

Sheary (West Hartford, Conn.) didn’t start well with a bogey on her first hole of the day, but made five birdies and no bogeys over her final 17 holes.

“I’ve been striking the ball well for a few weeks so I really, really worked on putting especially speed in trying to get the ball to the hole,” said Sheary. “I got a little sick of leaving putts right on line short.”

Sheary has eight career top 10 finishes on the Symetra Tour, but none this year.

“It has been a little bit of time since I’ve seen my name on the leaderboard,” said the former Wake Forest golfer. “This game is funny, as soon as you master one thing, you have to work on something else. I’m glad it all worked today.”

Sheary made some significant changes in the offseason including relocating to Orlando, Florida.

“I have a new swing coach, I have a new trainer, I have some new clubs and I feel like everything is starting to work well together,” said Sheary. “I didn’t have to take many steps back to start taking some forward.”

The Symetra Tour organized a behind the scenes tour of the Notre Dame campus and football facilities on Thursday for a social media stunt.

“I got to tour all the facilities and I think a little bit of the luck of the Irish might have rubbed off on me today,” said Sheary. “We got to walk down on the stadium, see the locker room, put a helmet on and see their lounge area. It was just nice to walk on campus and be there with a bunch of people.”

Sheary has played in 68 career Symetra Tour events and is craving a win.

“A win would mean the world, I haven’t won out here and I have a couple of second place finishes,” said Sheary. “I really, really like South Bend, I love this golf course. I would love to win finally.”

Rookie Katherine Perry made five birdies and just one bogey. Her 4-under 68 is tied for the low round of her professional career.

“My putting was great today, I made a lot of long putts,” said Perry. “The course is in great shape, it is a really pretty course.”

 

No surprise, Grice in hunt again

Casey Grice has eight career top 20 finishes in 29 events. This year, she has three top 10 finishes and ranks eighth on the Volvik Race for the Card money list. On Friday, she carded six birdies and turned in a 4-under 68.

“I was hitting it well today, it is definitely a scorable course,” said Grice. “I only had 29 putts and it is always good to stay under 30 and I gave myself a lot of chances.”

Grice has been in the final group a few times on Tour. Last year, she came close to winning the Symetra Tour Championship and this year she nearly won the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic.

“The thought of winning is always there, especially at the events with higher purses,” said Grice. “I don’t have a win yet so that is definitely a huge goal of mine and it will come in time.”

 

Carly Werwie gets surprise from boyfriend

Carly Werwie (Kenosha, Wisconsin) hasn’t had the season she was hoping for, but she knew strong rounds were on the way. Friday morning, her parents woke up at 2:45 a.m. and drove two and a half hours to make her 7:52 a.m. tee time. Her dad, Tom, was on the bag and little did Werwie know, her boyfriend Zach surprised her on the first tee.

“His sister that he doesn’t see often came into town from Georgia so he had to stay back to see her,” said Werwie, after carding a 3-under 69. “Then, we were talking on the phone and I told him to just drive down one day with my parents and then I got to the first tee and he was like ‘hey, good luck’ and I was like oh my gosh.”

Did his surprise help?

“He probably wants me to say yes, but it is fun to just see the support.”

Werwie has missed the last five cuts coming into the Four Winds Invitational, but knew the results were on the horizon.

“I’ve been hitting the ball really good since Greenwood and to not get the results I wanted was starting to get frustrating and annoying,” admitted Werwie. “My dad told me to be patient and the putts will fall and it was nice to finally see it happen.”

 

Notre Dame football player on bag for Rosen

Notre Dame football player Mike Heuerman is on the bag this week for Symetra Tour rookie Portland Rosen.

Heuerman is a junior tight end from Naples, Florida. He underwent hernia surgery prior to the 2014 season and did not see action. His older brother, Jeff, was a Second Team All-Big Ten performer in 2014 on the Ohio State Buckeyes national championship football team.

“I just wanted a caddie that makes me laugh and has fun and I asked Nicole Zhang (graduated from Notre Dame) if she knew anyone from school that wanted to make some summer money and she found me a football player,” said Rosen. “He definitely made me laugh, he had good jokes and stories. He also could keep up since he’s really athletic.”

So, is she going to become a Notre Dame football fan?

“Well, it is the only fight song I know so maybe.”

Zhang mentored Heuerman during her final year at Notre Dame.

 

Racv Australian Ladies Master Champ Oh Cards -3

Su Oh has her Ladies European Tour card by virtue of winning the RACV Australian Ladies Masters in February. Even more, she will play in three LPGA Tour majors this summer — the U.S. Women’s Open, the RICOH Women’s British Open and The Evian Championship, but the biggest thing she wants is an LPGA Tour card for 2016.

“The start of the season in Australian was great, but I’ve just been working on my swing and my game so it has been a bit slow on Symetra Tour, but I feel pretty good,” said Oh, after her 3-under 69 at Blackthorn Golf Club. “I’ve been to places in America that I never thought I’d visit. It has been a good life experience, it is about more than just golf.”

Oh had a short putt on her 18th hole to move to 4-under, but wasn’t able to convert.

“I saw the leaderboard and I knew I only had three feet and I didn’t think I’d miss, but oh well,” said Oh. “I played well today and it’s nice to see my name back on the leaderboard. I definitely left some putts out there today.”

This is the sixth event Oh has played in on the Symetra Tour this season.

Oh has been travelling all year with her father.

“It would be so hard to travel without him since I don’t have a driver’s license, I’m only 18 and I have to bring like six months worth of luggage,” said the happy-go-lucky Oh. “He always tells me to ‘chill’ on the golf course to try and keep me calm.”