Samantha Troyanovich, Min Lee share first-round lead at Valley Forge Invitational

What Samantha Troyanovich pulled off Friday in the opening round of the Valley Forge Invitational would appear to be impossible at a golf course she had not seen before this week.

In fact, she hadn’t seen the course at Raven’s Claw Golf Club at all before going out and firing a 7-under-par 64 – a round she closed with birdies on her last four holes – to grab a share of the 18-hole lead with Min Lee.

Troyanovich, 29, who played on the LPGA Tour last year but lost her card, said she wasn’t sure last weekend if she would play in this Symetra Tour event, so she and her husband, Danny, who is also her caddie, went to her parents’ home in Michigan to relax.

She changed her mind and the couple arrived late Thursday intending to walk the course, only to find it closed because of lightning in the area. Instead, they had a chat with Ed Shearon, the architect of Raven’s Claw, and Danny walked the 6,351-yard Pottstown course early Friday morning.

“We had a good chat,” Troyanovich said. “It was my first time seeing the golf course. It was good. There’s probably only two or three holes where I said, ‘I wish I would have seen this one before off the tee.’ So we’ll know that going into [Saturday], so it’s nice.”

Troyanovich made the turn in 3-under 33 but bogeyed the par-4 11th. After a birdie at 12 and two pars, she scorched the final four holes for birdies.

“It was a nice finish,” she said. “I made a good long putt on 15 and that kind of propelled me forward. Then the last two holes, I had shorter clubs in my hand and took advantage of that, which was nice.”

Lee, 23, who has played 86 LPGA events in her career, also had a hot stretch in her round with five consecutive birdies between the 13th and 17th holes. She said most of the putts in the run were 15 to 20 feet, capped by a 12-inch putt at the par-3 No. 17.

“I just tried to hit it to the pin,” she said. “I didn’t really think about trying to make a birdie, I just tried to have a good putt. The putting was really good, just a very relaxing round for me.”

Perrine Delacour, the tour’s No. 5 money winner, was part of a six-way tie for third at 66. The group included 19-year-old Huize Lian, Lauren Coughlin, Esther Lee, Ssu-Chia Cheng and Paige Lee. Natalie Sheary, a New Britain, Conn., resident and a former Eastern Amateur champion, was part of a quartet at 67.

In all, 47 players broke par.

Langhorne’s Brittany Benvenuto overcame a pair of early bogeys with four birdies for a 69. “I didn’t really change anything,” she said. “It looked like a couple of bogeys on the scorecard but I really played the same for all 18 holes. It was kind of settling into the round and making putts.” … Ashley Grier, assistant pro at Overbrook Golf Club, was 2-over par through 14 holes but bogeyed three of the last four for a 76. “I felt really good coming in,” she said. “I had been playing really well. I felt confident but I just didn’t really pull the shots off today.” … Other Philadelphia-area contestants included Kellie Edelblut of New Hope with a 71 and Isabella DiLisio of Hatfield with a 76. … Cheyenne Woods went without a birdie the entire round and finished with a 73, the same score as No. 2 Symetra Tour money winner Julieta Granada.