No. 16 Women’s Golf in Fourth at NCAA National Championship After First Round
5/18/2018 9:32:00 PM | Women's Golf
STILLWATER, Okla.- The No. 16 Kent State women's golf team is in fourth place after one round of the NCAA National Championship, finishing at 8-over par 296.
The championship course at Karsten Creek is a long course. However, the Golden Flashes found a way to keep their play consistent throughout the day. No. 6 Southern California leads the tournament at 3-over par 291, followed by No. 1 Alabama at 4-over par 292 and No.3 UCLA rounding out the top-3 spot at 6-over par 294. Kent State leads the No.4 fifth-place Duke by two-strokes.
"So far it's been good," said head coach Greg Robertson. "They've been playing solid. There is so much golf left for the rest of the week, you just got to take it one day at a time, one shot at a time here."
Leading the Flashes is Pimnipa Panthong who is currently in a tie for seventh. Panthong finished the first round with a 1-under 71 score and was the only member of the Flashes five to shoot under par. The sophomore went 15 holes par or better and finished the day with four birdies, two of which were back-to-back on No. 11 and 12.
Sitting in a three-way tie for 35th are Michaela Finn, Chloe Salort, and Kory Nielsen. The three Flashes carded a first-round score of 3-over par 75. Finn shot five birdies on the day with three-straight on her 8th, 9th, and 10th hole. Salort shot two birdies on the front nine on a par-4 and par-5 hole. Playing her first National Championship, Nielsen finished the day with three birdies. After a rough patch on the back nine, Nielsen finished strong with three-straight pars and a birdie on her final hole that put her a 3-over for the day.
Rounding out the Flashes lineup is Karoline Stormo who sits in a tie for 104th. Stormo carded a 9-over par 81 score. She ended the day with birdies on a par-4 and par-5.
Kent State leads the tournament with 16 birdies total after the first round.
Kent State, Washington, and Wake Forest will all tee off on the first hole starting at 12:15 p.m. For live results, follow along on golfstat.com or follow @KentStWGolf for tournament updates.
Players Mentioned
