Alabama Women?s Golfers Ninth at Central Florida Challenge
3/5/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
ORLANDO, Fla. ?? Despite getting off to a slow start in the opening round of the University of Central Florida Challenge, the Alabama women's golf team recovered in its next round and stands in ninth place after the first day of competition at the Grand Cypress Golf Club in Orlando, Fla.
"Considering where we were after the first three holes of the first round today, I have to be happy with where we are," said Alabama head coach Mic Potter. "We didn't hit the ball well, didn't chip well and it's a hard golf course and we might have been intimidated a little bit. The practice round didn't go great either, so I think that might have carried over a little bit. We battled back in the second round though, which was good, because it could have easily have gone the other way."
After a first-round effort that saw the team shoot 33 strokes over-par to record a 321, the Tide rebounded in round two. Alabama knocked 20 strokes off of its initial round as a team and fired a 301 to end the day. The Tide's 622 after 36 holes places it 10 strokes off of the top-five pace.
Two-time defending NCAA champion Duke leads the highly competitive field at the event after posting a three-under 573 on the first day of action. Pepperdine is in second place, with Georgia, Vanderbilt and LSU rounding out the top five in the team standings.
Each UA competitor at the event improved her score in the second round, led by junior Sarah Sturm. Sturm fired an opening-round 78 and finished the day with an even-par 72 to shoot 150 for two rounds. That total earned her a tie for 15th place on the individual leaderboard.
"Sarah was really got off to a bad start with a bogey and a triple on her first two holes, but she mentally turned it around and that was a big hurdle for her to overcome," Potter said. "She hit the ball really well after that, so it was good to see her recover after a really bad start."
Teammate Jenny Suh struggled a bit in round one, posting a 77, but the All-American responded with a 75 in the second loop to move her up the standings. Suh, who won her fifth career medal at the Puerto Rico Classic in late February, joins Sturm in the top 20 for the Tide, as she stands in a tie for 19th place with one round remaining.
The biggest improvement between rounds one and two for Alabama came from true freshman Helena Blomberg. The native of Sweden carded an opening-round 84, but recovered with a 75 in her second 18 holes. Blomberg is tied for 51st place with a two-round score of 158.
Rhea Nair, another true freshman for the Tide, is in the top 60 after her 161 on the first day, while sophomore Laura Goodwin recorded rounds of 87 and 82 for a 169 for Alabama.
Duke's Amanda Blumenhurst easily leads the individual standings, holding a 10-shot advantage over the five players tied for second place.
The final round of the 54-hole UCF Classic is set to be played on Tuesday, March 6. Live stats can be found on www.golfstat.com.
