MacWhinnie's Season-Best Round Leads Terps at NCAAs
5/11/2006 8:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
May 11, 2006
BROWNS SUMMIT, N.C. - Kelly MacWhinnie, playing in the No. 5 spot in the lineup, picked the best time of the season for her best round of the season with an even-par 72 to lead the University of Maryland in Thursday's opening round of the NCAA East Regional Women's Golf Tournament, as the Terrapins were making their first-ever NCAA postseason appearance.
MacWhinnie's 72 put her in a tie for 15th place individually and led Maryland to 14th place as a team after the first round of the 54-hole event, being played at the Bryan Park Champions Course. The Terrapins posted a team score of 305, just two shots behind NC State and Virginia and only eight strokes out of the top 10.
LSU and California each shot even-par 288 to take the team lead after the first round, with Tennessee four strokes back. Four teams were tied for sixth at 296, starting a tight battle to finish in the top eight and earn a berth to the NCAA National Tournament, to be held in Columbus, Ohio. South Carolina, North Carolina, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest were all in that logjam at 296.
MacWhinnie, a junior from Pittsburgh, Pa., fired a 73 in her previous best round of the year, that coming in early October at the Wolverine Invitational. It was her first round of the season at par or better. She bogeyed the first and fourth holes, but played the remainder of the round at 2-under-par to finish at 72. MacWhinnie birdied the fifth, ninth and 12th holes to go 1-under, but bogeyed the 13th to fall back to even.
Also for Maryland on Thursday, Kelly Calkin and Jessica Reno each shot 77 to tie for 64th individually, while Katie Stepanek had a 79 to tie for 80th place. Katie Trotter opened with an 82 on Thursday for the Terps.
Calkin was 4-over after the first five holes in her round, but played the last 13 holes with one birdie and just two bogeys to finish at 5-over-par 77. Reno turned the front nine in 3-over 39, but had a birdie on the back to finish with her 77.
Stepanek shot a 39 on the back nine, getting a birdie on the par-5 15th to aid her score. Trotter was 4-over through 13 on Thursday.
Jenny Suh of Alabama took the first-round lead on the individual leaderboard with a 3-under-par 69. She led by one shot over Melissa Eaton of LSU, Mandy Goins of Wake Forest, Lauren Smith of Augusta State and Marci Turner of Tennessee. Nine players were tied at 71 as 14 athletes broke par in the opening round.
Maryland, which is paired in the first two rounds with Furman and Augusta State, has an 8 a.m. tee time for Friday's second round. The Terrapins will begin their round on the 10th tee on Friday. The final round is set for Saturday.
Full results of the NCAA East Regional Tournament are available at www.golfstat.com
TEAM STANDINGS
1. (tie) LSU, California 288, 3. Tennessee 292, 4. Auburn 293, 5. Alabama 295, 6. (tie) South Carolina, North Carolina, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest 296, 10. Florida State 297, 11. Furman 298, 12. (tie) NC State, Virginia 303, 14. MARYLAND 305, 15. Arizona State 307. 16. (tie) Augusta State, Campbell, Yale 308, 19. College of Charleston 309. 20. (tie) East Carolina, Mississippi State 313.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
1. Jenny Suh, Alabama, 69; 2. (tie) Melissa Eaton, LSU; Mandy Goins, Wake Forest; Lauren Smith, Augusta State; Marci Turner, Tennessee, 70.
MARYLAND SCORES
T15. Kelly MacWhinnie 36-36--72; T64. Kelly Calkin 40-37--77; T64. Jessica Reno 39-38--77; T80. Katie Stepanek 40-39--79; T96. Katie Trotter 40-42--82.
