Down three strokes to par after 10 holes, Illinois State sophomore Samantha Richdale used a pair of birdies to finish with a 1-over-par 73 in the first round of the NCAA Womens Golf Championship Tournament at Grand National Lake Course in Opelika, Ala. The score puts her in the hunt for the individual title after 18 of the scheduled 72 holes this week, trailing individual leader Allison Hanna of Ohio State by just four strokes.
Richdale went out with the first of 42 threesomes to play on Monday, but was happy to be in the lead group.
"It's kind of nice to play without anybody in front of you," said Richdale, who thought an improvement in approach shots aided her back-nine charge. "I started to get confidence with my swing. I had struggled with approach shots, but got better near the end."
Redbird coach
Ray Kralis termed Richdale's round a success.
"The first day, you just want to be right there and stay in the hunt," said Kralis. "She stayed composed and found a way. I think she has some excellent golf ahead of her in this tournament."
Richdale and threesome companions Elizabeth Allen of Cal State-Northridge and Adrienne Millican of East Carolina set the bar high for the 126-player field. Allen is one of the players tied with Richdale at one over and Millican came in at even par.
Three players were right behind Hanna at two under par. Five players were one under and eight more were at even par. Richdale is one of 16 players at plus+1, tied for 18th place.
Oklahoma State emerged on top after the first day's team play, shooting even par to lead Duke and UCLA by a stroke.
Richdale opened play with a birdie on No. 1 and a bogie on two. She parred the next three holes before stumbling with bogies on No. 6 and No. 7. Finishing the front nine with back-to-back pars, she bogied No. 10 before starting her sprint to the finish. The reigning two-time Missouri Valley Conference medalist birdied the par-5, 511-yard 14th and the par-3, 145-yard 17th to go with pars on the other six holes.
Kralis thought hitting first on the first hole might have been a distraction.
"There was some TV coverage on the first hole, but Sam birdied it and had the lead at that point," said Kralis. "So it didn't bother her. She just has to stay composed."
For Wednesdays second round, Richdale has a 2 p.m. tee time, going out with the final groups of the day. Kralis has a plan to keep the early hours moving.
"We'll go out and practice in the morning," said Kralis. "Then have some down time and some lunch before she plays. It's unusual for a student-athlete to have some real down time before playing, but this is the only day she'll have that."
Richdale's Thursday and Friday tee times are both before 9 a.m.
