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Stanford Intercollegiate Stanford Golf Course Stanford, Calif. NU's Place: t-2nd/17 teams BirdieFire.com Results First Round Results  |
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STANFORD, Calif. -- Northwestern stands tied for second with its hosts after the opening round of play Friday at the star-studded Stanford Intercollegiate at the Stanford Golf Course.
The entirety of the 17-team field at the Stanford Intercollegiate is ranked in the top-100 in the first Golfstat.com rankings of the season and includes five of the top-10 schools in No. 1 Washington, No. 3 Stanford, No. 5 Northwestern, No. 6 USC and No. 8 UCLA.
The Bruins lead the tournament following 18 holes at 5-under 279 followed by the Wildcats and the Cardinal in a second-place tie at 2-under 282. USC and Kentucky trail Northwestern and Stanford by two shots at even-par 284 while San Jose State, Iowa State and Pepperdine are in a three-way sixth-place tie at 2-over 286.
Northwestern hung near the top of the leaderboard throughout the first day of competition, slipped slightly during a slow start to the back nine and then climbed back up within whisper distance of the lead with a good finish. The Wildcats specifically clobbered the final par-5s on each side, playing No. 7 in a combined 5-under par while going 4-under as a team on No. 16. For good measure, NU added a pair of birdies at No. 17 as part of its strong finish as well.
Sophomore Kacie Komoto (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou) led Northwestern Friday with a 2-under par 69, buoyed by a 3-under 32 on the front nine that featured a birdie at the par-3 third hole and an eagle 3 at the 488-yard par-5 seventh. Her eagle on that hole helped NU play it in 5-under as a team.
After the turn, Komoto dropped a couple of strokes with bogeys at Nos. 11 and 15, but made birdie at the par-5 16th to match her career-low total of 69. Komoto is in sixth place in the individual standings.
Senior Hana Lee (Hacienda Heights, Calif./Wilson) sandwiched birdies around a pair of consecutive bogeys in her front nine Friday, then played the back side in 1-under to contribute a 1-under 71 to the team cause. Lee stands 13th overall in the standings.
Freshman Hannah Kim (Chula Vista, Calif./Otay Ranch) carded eight pars and one birdie during a 1-under 34 going out Friday. She remained on that number until a bogey at the last staked her to a 17th-place even-par 71 in the first round.
Junior Suchaya Tangkamolprasert (Bangkok, Thailand/Bromsgrove Christian School) spent the majority of the opening round at 1-over par before a late birdie at No. 16 got her back to even. She would make bogey at No. 18, however, for a 1-over 72 and an 18-hole position of 28th.
Junior Kaitlin Park (Tustin, Calif./Beckman) rounded out Northwestern's team lineup Friday with the Wildcats' non-counting score on a largely rough day, but she also has the most momentum of any 'Cat heading into Saturday's second round. Park was 9-over par after making her third double bogey of the day at No. 13, but she came back with three-straight birdies from Nos. 15 through 17 to end up at 6-over 77, good for 74th position overall.
Freshman Sarah Cho (San Diego, Calif./Torrey Pines) is competing for Northwestern as an individual as she has done in three of the Wildcats' four fall tournaments. Starting on the back nine, Cho played an even-par first nine holes before coming home in 2-over for a 73, placing her 45th overall.
The second round of the Stanford Intercollegiate begins at 10:30 a.m. CT/8:30 a.m. PT tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 18.
Northwestern - t-2nd/17 282 (-2)
T6 -- Kacie Komoto -- 69 (-2)
T13 -- Hana Lee -- 70 (-1)
T17 -- Hannah Kim -- 71 (E)
T28 -- Suchaya Tangkamolprasert -- 72 (+1)
T45 -- Sarah Cho * -- 73 (+2)
T74 -- Kaitlin Park -- 77 (+6)
* Denotes playing as an individual
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