April 22, 2005
Columbia, Mo. - The University of Missouri Women's Golf squad is in sixth place after the opening round of the Big 12 Championships. The Tigers shot an opening round total of 306, putting them just one stroke out of a three way tie for third place and 11 strokes off of the pace set by Oklahoma State at 295. The Championship is being played at the par-72, 6,323-yard University of Texas Golf Course just outside of Austin, TX.
Head Coach Stephanie Cooper said that the Tigers played well from tee to green, but left a lot of putts on the course in the opening round. "We played solid golf today and struck the ball extremely well," Cooper said. "We are in the thick of things heading into the second round, but we need to eliminate some of the mental errors we made and capitalize on the birdie opportunities we get because we know OSU and UT are not going to give strokes back to the field. We improved today by 19 strokes compared to the first time we played this course in early March and I think we can make a run if we focus on executing a game plan."
Leading the way individually for Mizzou was senior and All-Big 12 First Team selection Maria Ohlsson. Ohlsson shot a 74 in the opening round and finished the day in a five-way tie for seventh place, just one stroke out of the top five and four strokes out of the lead which is shared by CU's Allison Rella and OSU's Annie Thurman-Young after rounds of 70 (-2). Ohlsson finished in a tie for fourth last season at the Big 12 Championships and has some major momentum heading into tomorrow as she finished her day with a birdie.
Fellow All-Big 12 selection Denise Knaebel also had a solid day as she fired a 76 in the opening round to finish in a tie for 15th, just three strokes out of the top five. Right behind Knaebel was fellow junior Kelly Strubinger who shot a 77 in the opening round. After opening the day at even par after the first nine holes, Strubinger struggled some in the second nine with a 41. Senior Mindy Bullard led the Tigers with three birdies in the opening round, but also had three double bogeys to finish with a 79 and is in a tie for 36th. Freshman Stephanie Wavro was off to a flammable start at just one over par after the first 12 holes, but stumbled down the stretch to finish with a 79 and is also in a tie for 36th heading into tomorrow's second round.
The Tigers will tee off in the second round tomorrow morning between 8-9 am. Live scoring will be provided at www.mutigers.com via www.golfstat.com. A complete recap of all of the Saturday's action will be posted on www.mutigers.com following the round