 |
||
 |
The Inaugural Annika Intercollegiate Presented by 3M Reunion Resort Watson Course Orlando, Fla. NU's Place: t-3rd/12 teams Golfstat.com Results |
|
ORLANDO, Fla. -- With three players in the top-11, Northwestern stands third among a hand-picked field of elite programs following the opening round of competition at the inaugural Annika Intercollegiate co-hosted by the Annika Foundation and Golfweek Magazine at the Reunion Resort Watson Course.
The Wildcats combined to card a 2-under 286, equaling Stanford for a third-place tie. The duo is four strokes behind second-place South Carolina and six shots in back of front-running Arizona. Oklahoma State and USC are one shot behind NU and Stanford in a fifth-place tie. The leaderboard already has fractured significantly after just 18 holes of play, with five strokes separating the fifth-place tie from seventh-place Alabama.
NU's 286 ties for the eighth-best single-round team total in program history, a sentence that figures to be written many times this season given Northwestern's current extreme depth in the lineup.
By virtue of its impressive win at the season-opening Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational, Northwestern entered this elite field as the No. 2 team in the nation in the first Golfweek/Sagarin rankings of the year. Five teams are making their season debuts at the Annika; they do not yet appear in the Golfweek list. Of the remaining seven squads, five are in the current top-6 in the country, paced by the Wildcats.
Ten of the field's 12 teams advanced to the NCAA Championships last year with all 10 finishing among the top-18 in the country. Duke (1), USC (2), UCLA (3) and Arizona State (5) all earned top-5 results in the NCAA a year ago.
With the strength of the field well-established, it's time to turn attention to the play Sunday in the opening round of the Annika.
Junior Kaitlin Park (Tustin, Calif./Beckman) sits two shots off the lead following a first round 2-under 70 that has her in a fifth-place tie. Park had a wild front side that featured four birdies and just three pars to turn at 2-under 34. She briefly got to 3-under on the day with a birdie at No. 16 before a bogey at the difficult last.
Senior Hana Lee (Hacienda Heights, Calif./Wilson) had a steady day on the course, turning in even par and standing at 1-over through 13 holes. Birdies on both back-nine par 5s -- the 480-yard 14th and the 515-yard 17th -- got her to red figures for an opening 1-under 71 that places her 11th in the standings.
Junior Suchaya Tangkamolprasert (Bangkok, Thailand/Bromsgrove International School), who earned Big Ten Golfer of the Week accolades following a runner-up performance in NU's first tourney of the season, showcased more of the same on Sunday. After back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 5 and 6 on the front side put her at 1-over par, Tangkamolprasert stayed bogey-free the rest of the round, carding consecutive birdies at Nos. 13 and 14 to match Lee at 1-under 71 and earn a 11th-place standing entering Monday's second round.
Sophomore Kacie Komoto (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou) was the lone Wildcat to birdie the opening 508-yard par-5 first hole on the Watson Course. Despite that, she stood 2-over par through 10 holes before a flurry of birdies got her back to even par through 14. Two bogeys coming home then accounted for a 2-over 74, putting Komoto 35th overall.
Freshman Hannah Kim (Chula Vista, Calif./Otay Ranch) had an up-and-down day to round out the scoring for the Wildcats. Kim recorded three late bogeys on the front nine and began the back with a bogey at No. 10 to find herself 3-over par. The newcomer recovered with birdies at Nos. 11, 14 and 15 to claw all the way back to even par. A bogey, double-bogey finish, however, on her final two holes led to an opening 3-over 75 to place her 40th in the field.
The second round of the Annika Intercollegiate begins with 8 a.m. ET/7 a.m. CT tee times tomorrow, Monday, Sept. 29.
Northwestern -- t-3rd/12 286 (-2)
T5 -- Kaitlin Park -- 70 (-2)
T11 -- Hana Lee -- 71 (-1)
T11 -- Suchaya Tangkamolprasert -- 71 (-1)
T35 -- Kacie Komoto -- 74 (+2)
T40 -- Hannah Kim -- 75 (+3)
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook, subscribe to the NU Sports Express e-newsletter and sign up to receive promotional text alerts for the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!