Tide Women Finish Round 1 at NCAA Championship
5/22/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. ?? The University of Alabama women's golf team, competing in its second NCAA Championship in as many seasons, got off to a slow start in the first of four rounds on the LPGA International Course in Daytona Beach, Fla., shooting a round of 314 as a team. The Tide is in 23rd place in the team standings.
"The wind really played havoc with us today," said Alabama head coach Mic Potter. "We obviously didn't play well in it today, nor have we done great with it all year. The wind made it a different golf course today and we didn't adjust well. All in all it was a rough day."
The score was Alabama's highest single-round tally since early March and its first round over 300 since the final day of the Southeastern Conference tournament in late April.
Rhea Nair, one of two true freshmen on the Tide roster, led her team in her first round of Championship play. Nair carded a 3-over 75 on the strength of four birdies that came on the second, fourth, 10th and 16th holes. She had a pair of bogeys and two double bogeys on the day. Nair is in a tie for 22nd place individually.
Senior Jenny Suh shot a 77 on the afternoon to stand in a tie for 53rd place on the individual leader board. The All-American posted three birdies in the round but was set back by six bogeys and a double bogey.
Helena Blomberg and Laura Goodwin each recorded scores of 81 in round one, while junior Sarah Sturm notched an 86.
Southern Cal leads the team standings after firing a 295 in round one to give the Trojans a two-shot advantage over North Carolina and Louisville. Stanford is in fourth place with two-time defending champ Duke five shots off of the pace in fifth place.
California-Irvine's Selanee' Henderson shot 3-under to lead the individual standings by a single stroke over Duke's Amanda Blumenhurst and Stanford's Lauren Todd.
"I didn't think the scores were going to be too great all-around today, so we have just got to get some things worked out for tomorrow. We have to do a lot better job of damage control and understanding that everyone else is struggling too. I thought we got frustrated today, so we just have to do our best to get ready for tomorrow."
Alabama tees off on Wednesday at 12:20 p.m. (EDT) from the first tee. As was the case in round one, the Tide will play the second round in a grouping that includes Tennessee and Pepperdine.
Live stats can be found at www.golfstat.com.
