GULF SHORES, Ala. – Elisa Axelsen carded a 3-over-par 74, her lowest score of the spring season, to lead the University of South Alabama women's golf team Friday after the first round of the Bama Beach Bash.
Axelsen ended the day tied for tied for seventh among the 51 individuals in the field, one stroke ahead of teammate MacKenzie Peyton. Carianne Wright and Lexi Worrell both shot an 82, giving the Jaguars a 313 team total after 18 holes to stand fifth among the nine schools in the competition, which the Jags are co-hosting with Alabama-Birmingham.
West Florida and West Georgia — Nos. 17 and 25, respectively, in this week's Golfstat NCAA Division II ratings — posted scores of 302 and 303 to end the opening day of play atop the team standings, with UAB (308) third and McNeese State (310) fourth ahead of the Jags. Franziska Bremm of UWG was the lone individual to break par in the first round after firing a 4-under-par 67, giving her a four-stroke advantage over a pair of players.
"We're obviously facing some adversity with our No. 2 player injured, we don't have any room for error," said Jaguar head coach Matt Luther. "I thought we dealt with that well today, we had a pretty good round going that got away a little bit near the end. Elisa played great and MacKenzie shot a 75 without making a putt, she hit it much better than that so I expect her play pretty well tomorrow. We can certainly move up the leaderboard a little bit and pick up some wins."
Axelsen was 2 under on the front nine at the par-71, 5,945-yard Gulf Shores Golf Club, posting back-to-back birdies on Nos. 3 and 4, playing at 492 and 140 yards, respectively. In addition to playing bogey-free golf before the turn, the senior added five pars on the back side of the course.
Peyton opened play with a string of eight consecutive pars, with her lone birdie of the round coming at the 344-yard 16th. She will begin the second 18 holes of the competition in ninth place in the individual standings.
Wright had a stretch of five straight pars in the middle of the front nine while Worrell parred six of nine holes before making the turn at 3 over, with both ending the round tied for 35th individually.
The tournament will continue with the second of three rounds on Saturday, with play slated to begin from the first and 10th tees at 8:30 a.m. (CDT).
"It was huge getting Elisa off to a good start today," Luther said. "We're starting on the back nine tomorrow, so if we can get off to an equally good start we should have a pretty good day."
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
Join the Chip In Club, the women's golf specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. All donations to the Chip In Club go directly to support the South Alabama women's golf program. For more information on how you can join visit: jaguarathleticfund.com/chipinclub.
—USA—
Bama Beach Bash
Gulf Shores Golf Club, Gulf Shores, Ala.
Par 71, 5,945 yards
Team Scores: 1) West Florida 302 (+18); 2) West Georgia 303; 3) Alabama-Birmingham 308; 4) McNeese State 310; 5) South Alabama 313; 6) West Alabama 314; 7) Nebraska-Omaha 317; 8) Alabama State 321; 9) Spring Hill 367.
Individual Leaders: 1) Franziska Bremm, UWG 67 (-4); 2) Paloma Vaccaro, UWF 71; T2) Emily Uhland*, SU 71; T4) Chanelle Avaricio, ASU 73; T4) Lauren Lamm 73; T4) Riley Issac, MSU 73 T7) Elisa Axelsen, USA 74; T7) Megan Vetrovsky, UNO 74; 9) MacKenzie Peyton, USA 75; T10) four individuals with 76.
*denotes playing as an individual
South Alabama Scores: T7) Elisa Axelsen 74 (+3); 9) MacKenzie Peyton 75; T35) Carianne Wright 82; T35) Lexi Worrell 82.
