May 11, 2012
The San Diego State women's golf team cut 12 strokes off their day one total, carding its best round ever at an NCAA regional with an 11-over 299 on Friday at the par-72, 6,253-yard Penn State Blue Course in State College, Pa. The Aztecs, however, remain in a tie for 18th place with Maryland at 34-over 610 heading into the final 18 holes of the 2012 NCAA East Regional.
"The 299 was a good score for our team considering our average entering the regional was 306," said Aztec head coach Leslie Spalding. "We got some solid play from both Gina (Clark) and Christine (Wong) and were competing in some windy conditions out on the course for the second day in a row. We have to continue to improve and I know our team is excited to make one final push tomorrow."
Four of the Aztecs' five golfers improved on their first-round scores. Junior Gina Clark (Murrieta, Calif.) made a dramatic jump up the individual leaderboard with her even-par 72, moving from 39th all the way into a tie for 13th place at 3-over 147. Clark had two birdies and seven pars on the front nine and was at 3-under through 15 holes. She then finished with a double bogey, a bogey and a par to wind up even for the day. The 147 is her lowest total through 36 holes this spring and second lowest in 2011-12.
Classmate Christine Wong (Richmond, B.C.) actually had the team's low round of the tournament thus far with a 1-under 71, highlighted by a team-best five birdies. The 71 was eight strokes better than her day one total of 79 and put her at 6-over 150 overall to tie for 40th after beginning the morning in 89th place. Wong was one of just 10 golfers in the 126-participant field to break par in the second round.
Senior Malin Enarson (Gothenburg, Sweden) was the third Aztec to move up in the standings, going from 89th into 84th place at 12-over 156. Enarsson started off the round with back-to-back pars, but then combined for five bogeys and two birdies to make the turn at 3-over. She found some consistency on the back nine, carding seven pars and two bogeys for a 5-over 77.
SDSU junior Alessia Knight (Bologna, Italy) took one stroke off her first-round total with a 79, but still dropped two spots into a tie for 101st at 15-over 159. Freshman Amy Alston (Mission Viejo, Calif.) was at 2-over through the first 11 holes, but a double bogey on the par-5 12th led to a seven-hole slide that left her with an 84 at the end of the day and a 36-hole total of 162.
South Carolina remains atop the leaderboard with a now seven-stroke advantage over second-place and top-seeded Alabama. Texas A&M's Katerina Ruzickova also maintained her day-one lead with a second-round 73 to move to 4-under 140, which is three strokes better than South Carolina's Katie Burnett and Justine Dreher, who are tied for second at 1-under 143.
San Diego State concludes the NCAA East Regional Saturday beginning at Noon p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT from the 10th tee and will be paired with UCF and Wake Forest. The top eight teams and low two individuals not on those squads will advance out of the east regional to the NCAA national championships in Franklin, Tenn., May 22-25.
2012 NCAA East Regional
State College, Pa.
Penn State Blue Course - Par 72, 6,253 yards
Second-Round Results - 36 Holes
Team Scoring (Top 5 of 24, plus SDSU)
1 South Carolina 288-294-582 (+6)2 Alabama 292-297-589 (+13)3 Florida 294-297-591 (+15)4 Texas A&M 296-296-592 (+16)5 Duke 302-293-595 (+19)T-18 San Diego State 311-299-610 (+34)
Individuals (Top 3 Individuals out of 126)1 Katerina Ruzickova, Texas A&M 67-73-140 (-4)2 Katie Burnett, South Carolina 72-71-143 (-1) Justine Dreher, South Carolina 70-73-143 (-1)
San Diego State Golfers
T13 Gina Clark 75-72-147 (+3)T40 Christine Wong 79-71-150 (+6)T84 Malin Enarsson 79-77-156 (+12)T101 Alessia Knight 80-79-159 (+15)T111 Amy Alston 78-84-162 (+18)