University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Mason Rudolph Championship Day 1
Freshman Ava Bergner Leads The Tar Heels In Tennessee
September 15, 2017 | Women's Golf
FRANKLIN, Tenn. - Freshman Ava Bergner was the top Tar Heel through the first round of the Mason Rudolph Championship Friday. She finished the day tied for 12th after a 2-under-par 70, and Carolina shot 6-over 294 for 13th after the first round.
Bergner kept the hot start to her freshman campaign going through round one just two weeks after she led the Tar Heels in her first collegiate tournament at the Ocean Course Invitational. After starting the day with a double bogey on the second hole, she was solid the rest of the afternoon, shooting par or under on 14 of her final 16 holes. She finished the round with birdies on three of the final four holes.Â
"The thing that impresses me most about Ava is her confidence," Head Coach Jan Mann said. "She's confident hitting the ball. She's particularly confident on the greens. She sees herself making the shots. There's no fear."
Junior Kelly Whaley finished the day strong, firing in a birdie on the 18th and finishing with a 1-over 73 on the day. She heads into the second round tied for 36th.
"Kelly hit the ball very well, and she controlled her shots very well," Mann said.
Senior Bryana Nguyen shot a 3-over-par 75 to finish the day tied for 57th. Like Whaley, sophomore Brynn Walker also shot a birdie on 18 to finish the day at 4-over to round out the scoring. She is tied for 63rd heading into Saturday. Sophomore Mariana Ocano shot a 7-over 79 to finish the day tied for 72nd. Junior Clementina Rodriguez shot a 6-over-par 78 to finish tied for 69th competing as an individual.
Carolina hit the ball well and was set up for low scores on many holes throughout the day, but putts just weren't falling for the Tar Heels once they got in position.Â
"The greens are challenging, but they're perfect as far as the surface itself," Mann said. "They're birdies to be made, and the putts just did not drop today. The encouraging thing is that hopefully tomorrow they will hit it as well as they did today and the putts will drop.
Arkansas leads the field at the Vanderbilt Legends Club at 15-under par through round one. Maria Fassi of Arkansas is leading the field of players with a 7-under 65.Â
Host Vanderbilt came into the day unranked in Golfweek's preseason poll, but are second in the nationally-competitive field at 13-under par.
Carolina will tee off starting at 9:35 a.m. Saturday for the second round of the Mason Rudolph. They will play alongside Charlotte and UCF. Live scoring is available at GolfStat.com, you can follow @uncwomen's golf on twitter and a full recap will be available following play.Â
TAR HEEL SCORES
T12 - Ava Bergner 70 (-2)
T36 - Kelly Whaley 73 (+1)
T57 - Bryana Nguyen 75 (+3)
T63 - Brynn Walker 76 (+4)
T72 - Mariana Ocano 79 (+7)
(competing as an individual)
T69 Clementina Rodriguez 78 (+6)
TEAM LEADERBOARD
1. Arkansas 273 (-15)
2. Vanderbilt 275 (-13)
3. Arizona State 277 (-11)
4. Alabama 284 (-4)
T5. Northwestern 285 (-3)
T5. Auburn 285 (-3)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD
1. Maria Fassi (Arkansas) 65 (-7)
2. Abbey Carlson (Vanderbilt) 66 (-6)
T3. Linnea Strom (Arizona State) 67 (-5)
T3. Alana Uriell (Arkansas) 67 (-5)
T3. Elena Hualde (Auburn) 67 (-5)
Players Mentioned
