HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE, Ark. – The University of South Alabama women's golf team shot a 9-over-par 297 Sunday and is tied for the lead after the opening round of the 2018 Little Rock Golf Classic at the Diamante Country Club.
Four Jaguars rank among the top 25 individually. Sophomore Julie Hovland's even-par 72 tied for the fourth-best round of the day.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Event (Host): 2018 Little Rock Golf Classic
Dates: Oct. 28-30 (Sunday-Tuesday)
Format: 54 holes (18/18/18)
Start Time: 8:30 a.m. tee time start Monday; 8:30 a.m. shotgun start Tuesday
Course: Diamante Country Club (par 72, 6,076 yds)
Live Results
TEAM SCORES
T1) UTEP 297 (+9); T1) South Alabama 297 (+9); 3) Lamar 299 (+11); T4) Central Arkansas 303 (+15); T4) Missouri State 303 (+15); 6) ULM 304 (+16); 7) Utah Valley 305 (+17); 8) Houston Baptist 306 (+18); 9) UT Arlington 307 (+19); 10) Western Kentucky 308 (+20); T11) UMKC 311 (+23); T11) Northern Iowa 311 (+23); 13) Little Rock 315 (+27); 14) Arkansas State 318 (+30); 15) McNeese 320 (+32); 16) Stephen F. Austin 326 (+38)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
1) Lily Downs, UTEP, 70 (-2); T2) Rachel Johnson, Missouri State, 71 (-1); T2) Laura Pasalodos Barcelo, Lamar, 71 (-1); T4) Julie Hovland, South Alabama, 72 (E); T4) **Pia Ohlenbusch, Jacksonville State, 72 (E); T4) Allison Bray, Missouri State, 72 (E); T4) Megan Clarke, Western Kentucky, 72 (E); T4) Elodie Chaplet, Lamar, 72 (E); T9) Madigan Murray, UT Arlington, 73 (+1); T9) Shani Shite, ULM, 73 (+1); T9) Emma Svensson, Central Arkansas, 73 (+1); T9) Kaity Cummings, Houston Baptist, 73 (+1)
**Competing as an individual
SOUTH ALABAMA SCORES
T4) Julie Hovland, 72 (E); T13) Caroline Berge, 74 (+2); T17) Siti Shaari, 75 (+3); T24) MacKenzie Peyton, 76 (+4); T59) Lexi Worrell, 80 (+8); T72) **Nele Mattner, 81 (+9)
**Competing as an individual
TEE SHOTS
-Hovland ranked first in the 95-person field with five birdies and tied for third in par-4s with a 3.90 (-1) average. The Bergen, Norway native led the Jaguars with a 3.00 (E) par-3 average.
-Sophomore Caroline Berge shot a 2-over-par 74 to tie for 13th overall. She played 12 holes at even-par – more than any other Jaguar – and carded two birdies.
-Siti Shaari's 3-over-par 75 opening round tied for 17th. She carded back-to-back birdies on holes 13 and 14 and shot even-par on 11 of 18 holes.
-Senior MacKenzie Peyton shot a 4-over-par 76 to tie for 24th in her first round at the course since her 2015 freshman season. She played 11 holes at even-par, carded three birdies, and tied for fourth individually with a 4.75 (-1) par-5 average.
-Berge, Peyton, and Shaari posted matching 4.10 (+1) averages on par-4s. Berge, Shaari, and senior Lexi Worrell held 3.25 (+1) par-3 averages.
-South Alabama's 4.14 (+7) scoring average on par-4s was the best in the field. The Jaguars had the second-best par-5 average (5.15, +3) and tied for the lead with 13 birdies on the day.
THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Matt Luther
On today's overall performance… "We did well. We had a good plan for this golf course and stayed patient. It's a tough place to play, but we never got too down. We kept the big numbers off the card, which I think helped us. It was a good day."
On course conditions… "It's a little wet, but the weather is great. There's been a lot of rain here, so it's soft. The greens are really soft and backing up, so that took a little bit of getting used to for us. It suits us well and we hit it a long way."
On Hovland's effort… "She played well and stayed patient. She bounced back when she made bogeys and came back with birdies. The course suits her well and it showed."
On Peyton's round as the only Jaguar to have seen the course before… "She came here as a freshman, so it's been awhile. What's been great about that is seeing that she's playing this course significantly better than when she was a freshman, which shows how much she has grown up in four years. She played 17 really good holes today. I actually walked with her all day. On the +4 hole (hole number 7) she hit a fantastic shot and kind of got a bad break. It got away from her a little bit, but she's a much better ball-striker than what she was the last time she was here, which is fantastic to see."
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. 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.
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