The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational
Second-place Women's Golf trails top-ranked UCLA by one stroke in Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational
03.26.2010 | Women's Golf
March 26, 2010
AUSTIN, Texas -- With the aid of even-par rounds from freshman Madison Pressel (36-36=72) and sophomore Nicole Vandermade (36-36=72), the Texas Women's Golf team trails Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational first-round leader and top-ranked UCLA (295, +7) by just one stroke. The Longhorns fired an 8-over-par 296 on the par-72, 6,255-yard University of Texas Golf Club and are currently in second place in the 17-team field.
Senior Shannon Fish is tied for the individual lead at 2-under 70. Fish bookended her round with birdies on the first and 18th holes, while also making a pair of birdies on the fifth and 10th holes and bogeys on the 3rd and 14th. She leads the Texas 'B' team that is in 13th place at 22-over 310.
Pressel recovered from a quick bogey on the par-5, 526-yard yard 11th hole - her second hole - with back-to-back birdies on the 12th and 13th holes to dip to 1-under through four holes of play. A second bogey on the 16th hole returned Pressel to even par before making the turn, but she immediately carded her third subpar score of the day on the first hole. Pressel climbed back to even with a bogey on the third hole before going birdie-bogey on the fifth and sixth holes to result in the even-par finish and a tie for fifth place with Vandermade.
Vandermade played her first nine holes at even par while balancing a bogey with a birdie on the back side. A double bogey on the first hole pushed her to 2-over, but Vandermade closed with consecutive birdies on the eighth and ninth holes to fall to even par.
Freshman Desiree Dubreuil carded an opening-round 3-over 75 and is tied for 22nd place. Freshmen Haley Stephens and Katelyn Sepmoree are tied for 41st and 63rd places, respectively, at 5-over 77 and 7-over 79.
On the team leaderboard, TCU trails UCLA (295, +7) and Texas (296, +8) and is in third place at 10-over 298. Oregon and Texas A&M are tied for fifth at 11-over 299.
Fish is tied for the lead with the Aggies' Sarah Zwartynski (35-35), and UCLA's Stephanie Kono and Stanford's Kristina Wong are tied for third place at 1-under 71.
The second round of the 37th annual Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational will begin at 8:15 a.m. CT with a split-tee start. The Longhorns will be paired with the Bruins and Horned Frogs and are slated to tee off of the first hole beginning at 9:45 a.m.
Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational Results (Top Five Teams) - Round One
1. UCLA, 295 (+7)
2. TEXAS, 296 (+8)
3. TCU, 298 (+10)
T4. Oregon, 299 (+11)
T4. Texas A&M, 299 (+11)
Top Five Individuals
T1. Shannon Fish, Texas - 70 (-2)
T1. Sarah Zwartynski, Texas A&M - 70 (-2)
T3. Stephanie Kono, UCLA - 71 (-1)
T3. Kristina Wong, Stanford - 71 (-1)
T5. Madison Pressel, Texas - 72 (E)
T5. Nicole Vandermade, Texas - 72 (E)
Texas 'A' Team Standings
T5. Madison Pressel, 72 (E)
T5. Nicole Vandermade, 72 (E)
T22. Desiree Dubreuil, 75 (+3)
T41. Haley Stephens, 77 (+5)
T63. Katelyn Sepmoree, 79 (+7)
Texas 'B' Team Standings
T1. Shannon Fish, 70 (-2)
T52. Brittany Tomerlin, 78 (+6)
T74. Megan Rosenfeld, 81 (+9)
T74. Alex Richards, 81 (+9)
T83. Paloma Nunez, 83 (+11)
POST-ROUND QUOTES
Head Coach Martha Richards
On the team's overall performance: We got off to a pretty solid start, in terms of playing the back nine first. We had a few hiccups when we made the turn, but we finished strong. Nicole (Vandermade) had two birdies to close her round and Haley (Stephens) made birdie on nine. Those really helped us maintain our position on the leaderboard. I still believe that we can shoot lower on this golf course, but overall, I'm very pleased.
On the comfort of competing on a home course: Playing at home, especially with a young group, is comfortable for us. We've worked a lot on our course management here, gone over potential hole locations, and this has become home to us the last few weeks. We've done a thorough job of preparing, and today felt good.
On the play of senior Shannon Fish: Shannon played great. She has played some great rounds of golf in her career here at UTGC, and she started off strong with a 2-under. I'm excited for her to have such a great start today, and I look for her to continue to shoot some low numbers here.
