May 7, 2009
Columbus, Ohio - Playing at the Scarlet Golf Course, the Stanford women's golf team got the NCAA Central Regional underway on Thursday. The Cardinal finished with a round of 22-over-par 310 and sit in 14th place. Only the top eight teams will advance to the NCAA Championships in two weeks.
UCLA took the first round lead with a score of 4-under-par 284. The Bruins have already built an 11 stroke lead over the second place tie between Michigan State and Purdue.
The final spots that would advance to the NCAA's currently belong to UT Chattanooga and Georgia State who are tied for seventh at 17-over-par 805. The Cardinal will need to move up to at least that position to return to the NCAA Championships after not advancing last season for the first time in 20 years.
On Thursday, the Cardinal were led by Sydney Burlison and Rebecca Durham who both shot rounds of 4-over-par 76. The duo currently sits in a tie for 30th, seven strokes off the lead. The first round leaders are UCLA teammates, Stephanie Kono and Maria Jose Uribe.
Both Burlison and Durham played steady rounds where they shot identical 38's on both nines. Both players also made just one birdie, but avoided major trouble for their solid rounds.
In a tie for 58th is Lila Barton after shooting a round of 6-over-par. Barton finished a round with 12 pars and six bogeys.
The final scoring golfer for Stanford was Angela King with a round of 8-over-par 80. King is tied for 79th a year after being the only Stanford golfer to advance to the NCAA's when she finished 11th at the 2008 West Regional.
Mari Chun rounded out the Stanford team with a round of 12-over-par 84. Chun is tied for 92nd after the first round.
The Cardinal will return to the Scarlet Golf Course on Friday for the second round of the NCAA Central Regional. Stanford will look to climb up the leaderboard to secure a spot at the NCAA Championships in Owings Mill, Md., from May 19-22.