Furman ninth at Florida State Match-Up
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Sophomore Taylor Totland (+1) and freshman Alice Chen (+1) each fired a 73 to tie for sixth place as the 26th-ranked Furman women's golf team opened the 2015 spring season Friday at the third annual Florida State Match-Up Tournament at the par-72, 6,236 yard Southwood Golf Course.
Totland, a native of Tinton Falls, N.J, birdied No. 2 and No. 7 to make the turn at 1-under then was 2-over on the back to conclude the round 1-over-par. Chen, who hails from Princeton, N.J., was even on the front then notched three consecutive birdies on Nos. 13, 14 and 15 to finish the day tied with Totland. The Paladin duo is four strokes back of leader Bianca Fabrizio (-3) of Texas A&M, who shot a 69 to open the tournament.
Paladin freshman Reona Hirai (+5) was even on the front and tied for 35th place with a 77, while rookie Jacqueline Bendrick (+6) birdied No. 7 and No. 12 to tie for 44th place after carding a 78. Junior Valentina Romero (+7) enters Saturday's second round tied for 52nd place after shooting a 79 on Friday.
No. 2 South Carolina (+4) leads No. 9 Mississippi State by four strokes after turning in a 292 in the opening round. No. 42 Coastal Carolina (+10) and Kennesaw State (+10) are tied for third, while No. 38 Florida State (+11) and No. 16 Texas A&M (+11) finished Friday's round tied for fifth. The Paladins (+13) are in ninth place after one day of competition, just three strokes back of the third-place teams.
Second-round play of the 54-hole tournament, which features four teams ranked in the top 25 and seven teams among the top 50 in the latest Golfstat rankings, begins Saturday at 9 a.m. The tournament will conclude on Sunday at 9 a.m.
The Paladins tee off of No. 1 at 9:08 a.m. on Saturday. Admission to the tournament is free and fans are welcome.
ETSU 10th at FSU Match-Up
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Junior Vivienne Chin fired a first-round score of 2-over-par 74 to finish tied for 18th on the individual leaderboard, pacing the ETSU women’s golf team during the opening day of play in the Florida State Match-Up on Friday at the Southwood Golf Course.
Facing a field that includes No. 2 South Carolina, No. 9 Mississippi State, No. 16 Texas A&M, No. 17 Virginia, No. 26 Furman, No. 38 Florida State and No. 42 Coastal Carolina, the Buccaneers are currently 10th on the team leaderboard after a first-round team score of 309.
No. 2 South Carolina currently holds the team lead by four strokes over No. 9 Mississippi State, as the Gamecocks finished the day with a 4-over 292. Individually, Texas A&M’s Bianca Fabrizio fired a 3-under-par 69 to hold the first-round lead by two strokes over Virginia’s Lauren Coughlin and Coastal Carolina’s Malene Krollboll Hansen.
While Chin posted the low round of the day for the Bucs, sophomore Linda Dobele also had a solid round with a 4-over-par 76 to finish tied for 24th. Other ETSU results included a tie for 52nd by freshman Allyson Dunn and ties for 57th by freshman Dominika Czudkova and sophomore Rachel Pollock.
Play at the FSU Match-Up will continue Saturday with second-round action, while third and final-round play is set for Sunday.