Sophomore Samantha Richdale fired a team low 74 in the first round of the 2004 NCAA Central Womens Golf Regional to lead Illinois State to a 12th place standing through 18 holes on Thursday at the ISU Golf Course.
Samantha came up big for us with a great round of 74, head coach
Ray Kralis said. She continues to come up big for us and today was just another time.
Richdale is in a tie for 12th individually with her three-over-par 74. The Redbirds finished with a 313 on the day and Kralis is pleased to get the first round out of the way for his young team.
With the wind picking up like it did and the golf course being set up the toughest we have ever played it, for us to come out and shoot a 313, I dont feel too bad about, Kralis said. It would have been nice to get a hot start, obviously, in the opening round, but in the same time there is going to be a grouping of teams and a dog fight the whole way. You dont get into the top eight based on your play today, we knew it was going to be 54 holes.
Katie Laehn stroked a 79, Hilary Anderson and Chelsea Bach each carded an 80, while Ashlie Rose clubbed an 83 to round out the Redbird scoring.
Texas A&Ms Kyla Neal and Arizonas Erica Blasberg each fired a first round low 68 to lead individually after 18 holes. The first round pair of 68s also claimed the course record formerly held by Illinois States Ashlie Rose, who shot a 70 on Sept. 7, 2003. Neals 3-under-par round bettered her career best by six strokes and gives the junior a one-stroke lead heading into round two.
I wanted to stick to my game plan no matter what the course gave me or what the weather was like, Neal said. I wanted to focus on every shot and not force anything. It just felt like another round of golf, I just made some more putts. I was focused on staying in the present and taking it one shot at a time.
Nearly an hour after Neals 68, Arizonas Blasberg tied it with her lowest round of the season.
I felt pretty good all day, Blasberg said. Im hitting the ball pretty consistently and when Im not, Im making the putts. It was a completely different golf course today (with the wind). I realized around the 12th hole (that I shooting well) when I hit a couple of birdies on No. 10 and 12.
In the team standings, the top two seeds, Vanderbilt and New Mexico, finished the first round in a tie with a 298. Vanderbilt head coach Martha Freitag was satisfied with the 14-over-par round, but feels there is room for her Commodores to improve.
I think we are capable of a lot more than this, this course had a lot of bite to it today, Freitag said. I didnt expect to see a lot of rounds under par. Wind definitely made this course harder. I dont know that the change of direction made it harder, but the increase velocity. I think that definitely made the course more challenging.
New Mexico head coach Jackie Booth was also pleased with her Lobos first round.
We hit the ball well, but we left some putts out there, Booth said. I was happy with how hard they fought. It would have been really easy to give up on a day like today and they didnt do that. We are used to wind in Albuquerque and I knew we could handle it.
The Central Regional continues on Friday with tee times starting at 8 a.m.
