Ashlie Rose and Samantha Richdale are stuck on 76 and their Illinois State golf coach,
Ray Kralis, is happy they are. The pair matched their Friday 76s with the same scores on Saturday and are tied for third placejust like their teamin the St. Croix Collegiate Classic at Carambola Golf Club.
Southern Methodist leads the pack with a 607 heading into Sundays third and final round, 13 strokes ahead of Baylor. Xavier (the host school), Boston College and Illinois State are next with 636s, tied for third. Texas Tech is sixth, Notre Dame is seventh and Illinois is eighth in the 15-team meet. Missouri Valley opponent Wichita State is 12th in the tournament.
Kralis is thrilled with Rose and Richdale.
Our top players are stepping up to the challenge each day, said Kralis. Our players know the course and we just need that No. 3 and No. 4 player to step up for us. Its great to be competing with the best here and in a position to finish ahead of quality teams like Texas Tech, Notre Dame and Illinois.
Richdale and Rose's 154 totals are just four shots behind the pace of SMU's Kristina Rothengatte, who is in first place individually with a 148.
Ashlee Johnson is third for the Birds with an 81 and Kaila Fuller added an 85. Freshman Chelsea Bach, competing as an individual in the 81-player field, was part of a threesome which celebrated some excitement.
Bach earned her first hole-in-one by draining a 150-yard 8-iron ace on the 14th hole. Incredibly, Bachs ace was the shot following an hole-in-one by one of her playing partners on the same hole. Four holes later, the third player in their group scored an ace, and those were the only three holes-in-one in the tournament.
We were really excited for Chelsea, said Kralis. It was her first hole-in-one and we think its an indication that she can be a player who can really help our team in the future.
