Sept. 14, 2008

HANAHAN, S.C. - Sophomore Hilary Lawson and senior Lara Peffley each shot rounds of 3-over-par 75 to lead the University of Maryland to a tie for 13th in the team standings Sunday after the opening round of the Cougar Classic women's golf tournament being hosted by the College of Charleston.

The 22-team event is being played at the Yeamans Hall Golf Club. The tournament is the first of the 2008-09 season for the Terrapins.

Maryland, starting a lineup with two freshmen, two sophomores and a senior, fired a 303 as a team in the first round. Virginia and Georgia were tied for the team lead at even-par 288 on Sunday, with South Carolina in third at 290.

The field has a strong presence of nationally ranked teams from both the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Southeastern Conference.

Also for Maryland, freshman Jessica Hollandsworth fired a 76 in her first collegiate round to tie for 54th, while fellow freshman Lauren Varnas opened with a 77 to tie for 67th.

Mallory Hetzel of Georgia and Whitney Neuhauser of Virginia had first-round scores of 4-under-par 68, and led the individual leader board by one stroke over Julie Saleeby of NC State and Caroline Westrup of Florida State.

The second round will be played on Monday, with the final round of the 54-hole event scheduled for Tuesday.

WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES

T1 Virginia               288 E
T1 Georgia                288 E
3 South Carolina          290 +2
4 North Carolina St.      291 +3
T5 North Carolina         292 +4
T5 Florida State Univ.    292 +4
7 Alabama, U. of          293 +5
T8 Louisiana State        297 +9
T8 Notre Dame, U. of      297 +9
10 Charleston, Coll. of   300 +12
T11 Wisconsin, U. of      301 +13
T11 Furman University     301 +13
T13 Tulane University     303 +15
T13 Maryland, U. of       303 +15
15 South Florida          304 +16
16 Mississippi St. U.     305 +17
17 Mississippi, U. of     307 +19
T18 Tennessee             308 +20
T18 Miami, U. of          308 +20
20 Richmond               310 +22
21 N. Car.- Greensboro    315 +27
22 Charleston Southern    322 +34