University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Lady Paladin
Women In 5th After First Round Of Lady Paladin
September 21, 2015 | Women's Golf
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Lexi Harkins shot 1-under-par 71 in the opening round of the Lady Paladin Invitational to lead the University of North Carolina women's golf team to fifth place. The team shot 9-over-par in the first round of the tournament on Sunday.
“I'm really pleased that Lexi had a good day,” head coach Jan Mann said. “I'm expecting the others to follow suit tomorrow. I feel like they can score low on this course if they can stay patient throughout the entire round.”
Harkins, a sophomore from Crystal Lake, Ill., started the round with two birdies on No. 3 and 6 to get to 2-under-par. A bogey on No. 9 closed the front with a 1-under score. Harkins had two bogeys on the back nine, but immediately followed them up with a birdie on the next hole. She's tied for third heading into the second round of the Lady Paladin. Junior Leslie Cloots and senior Elizabeth Mallet shot 3-over-par 75 on the day. Cloots had four bogeys to go along with a birdie on No. 13, a hole in which four of the five starting Tar Heels birdied. Mallett got off to a hot start with three birdies in the first five holes, but tapered off as the round went on. Mallett and Cloots are tied for 24th. Tied for 40th is Bryana Nguyen at 4-over-par. Nguyen had three birdies and five bogeys to go along with a double bogey. Freshman Kelly Whaley finished tied for 46th at 5-over-par. The team finished with 13 birdies in the first round, five more than the team had at the end of the Powerade Cougar Classic a week ago.
The Tar Heels' lone individual, Rachel Jones, shot 5-over-par as well and is tied for 46th.
Ahead in the 17-team field is Clemson at 2-over-par 290. New Mexico is trailing by one stroke at 3-over-par 291. In third is Wake Forest at 4-over-par 292 while Missouri hangs back at 5-over 293. Following the Tigers is the University of North Carolina in fifth at 9-over-par.
Leading the overall individual competition is Clemson's Alice Hewson who shot an impressive 5-under 67 in the first round. Missoui's Michelle Butler finished 2-under par to stand alone in second place. Wake Forest's Erica Herr and Jennifer Kupcho are tied for third with Harkins from North Carolina and Iben Hvass from Georgia Southern at 1-under-par.
The second round of the Lady Paladin Invitational will begin tomorrow at 8:51 a.m. with groups going off Nos. 1 and 10. The tournament is being played at Furman University Golf Course, which features a par 72, 6,083-yard layout. Live scoring will be available on Birdiefire.com. GoHeels.com will have a recap of performances and results following the conclusion of each day.
Players Mentioned
