May 22, 2007
Daytona Beach, Fla. - The top-ranked Arizona State women's golf team is tied for 16th after the opening round of the 2007 NCAA National Championships held May 22-25, in Daytona Beach, Fla. ASU shot a 19-over 307 in the first round.
"We had a lack of intensity," said head coach Melissa Luellen. "We have three days and we will definitely take it one day at a time. We will get them extremely focused on tomorrow. No one is going to hand you the trophy."
USC leads the 24-team field at 7-under 295, two strokes over second-place North Carolina and Louisville. Individually, UC Irvine's Selanee' Henderson leads the tournament after shooting a 3-under 69.
With the winds gusting at about 25 mph, the woods and forestry that flank the outskirts of the fairways and greens provided a challenge for the Sun Devils. ASU had four golfers lose their balls and take two-stroke penalties on the back nine.
"Our team struggled with the wind and I feel they over played the wind," said Luellen. "It was quite gusty on that back nine and within a matter of three holes we had eight penalty shots. All of a sudden it was out of control."
Freshman Anna Nordqvist led the Sun Devils, shooting a 3-over 75 to tie for 22nd. Nordqvist finished strong on the 10th hole making a long putt to birdie the hole.
Fellow freshman Juliana Murcia finished the first round with a 4-over 76 to tie for 39th. Murcia also made a birdie on 10.
"We are going to try to keep our balls on the fairway," said Murcia. "I think we are 12 [strokes] behind. It is a three-day competition. We'll do our best to come back and get better scores."
Sophomore All-Americans Azahara Munoz and Jennifer Osborn both shot a 6-over 78 to tie for 72nd. Senior Lindsay Anderson shot an 11-over 83 to tie for 114th.
"We have an uphill climb, but I believe our team can shoot under par on this golf course, and that is what it's going to take," said Luellen. "I think every team will have their off day and we've had ours. We'll pull together as a team and come out firing tomorrow."
The Sun Devils previously played the par-72, 6,351 yard LPGA International's Legends Course during the NCAA Fall Preview, Sept. 22-24. Arizona State finished in sixth place shooting a 27-over 891 for the three-day tournament.
The NCAA National Championships continue Wednesday-Friday. Arizona State will tee-off Wednesday at 8:00 a.m. EST with TCU and Wake Forest. Tee times on Thursday and Friday are determined by team standings.
Live hole-by-hole scoring is available at www.golfstat.com.