Women's golf owns 10-stroke second round SLC lead
4/20/2010 2:34:00 PM | Women's Golf
By Cody Stark, Huntsville Item
Huntsville, Tx. - Host team Sam Houston State fired a one-over par overall score of 285 to take a 10-stroke lead in the team but Rebecca Sorensen of second place Central Arkansas holds the individual medalist lead as the Southland Conference women's golf championship completed its second day.
The 54-hole tournament will finish Wednesday with the final 18 on the par 71, 6,081 course at Raven's Nest Golf Club.
Sam Houston State could become the first Southland Conference women's golf team to win the league championship on its home course. The Bearkats shattered the tournament single round team record with the 285 total.
Sparked by sophomore Kirsten Spittler's 3-under-par round of 68 Tuesday, the Bearkats grabbed a 10-stroke lead over Central Arkansas. Spittler, who was playing in the third to last group which teed off on hole No. 1 Tuesday morning, got off to a furious start. She birdied the first three holes.
Things got a little rocky from there as Spittler bogeyed two of the next three holes before closing the front nine with a birdie on No. 8 and a par on No. 9. She also birdied No. 10, No. 13 and No. 16, then closed with two straight pars to finish at 3 under, which set an SLC tournament record for a single round.
"I did get off to a good start, but I did get shaky every once in a while," said Spittler, who is second in the individual standings at 142, two stokes behind Central Arkansas' Rebecca Sorensen. "I shot 2 under on the front nine and played even par on the back before I got a birdie on No. 16. It was a good round for me."
Spittler might have had the best round of the day, but her Sam Houston State teammates were almost as solid. Freshman Shelby Hardy shaved two strokes off her opening round 73 to move into a tie for fourth with Valdis Jonsdottir of Texas State at 2 over 144.
Hardy opened with two straight pars, then knocked in a birdie putt on No. 3, which is a par-4, 380-yard hole. She followed with 14 consecutive pars before closing with a bogey on No. 18 after hitting her approach shot out of bounds.
"We just need to continue to play safe and make pars," Hardy said. "There are some birdie holes out there, but there are holes you just want to get away with a par. The key out here is to mix in a couple of birdies with pars and that is what we have been trying to do."
So far Sam Houston's game plan has been working. Freshman Meghan Musk, who was tied for the lead heading into Tuesday, shot a 2-over 73 and is currently in third place at 143. She had three birdies, nine pars and five bogeys during the second round.
Junior Meghann Stevens had a better showing Tuesday. She was three strokes better with a 73, which has her tied for ninth at 149 with Shannon Jungman of UTSA and Krista Puisite of Texas State.
The biggest jump for the Bearkats was by senior Landa Stewart. She opened the tournament with a disappointing 7-over 78 Monday. She bounced back with a 2-over 73 Tuesday to move into 15th place.
"When your high score of the day is a 73, you have to feel happy about that," SHSU head coach Tommy Chain said. "When you are coaching out there and you know you are counting only four scores and a couple of girls are going south, you can get nervous. But I knew that we have five girls that can post good scores out here, so I knew we would have a good score at the finish.
"Kirsten stepping up with a 3 under was big. Shelby has played big for us all year. We just had great scores from all the girls and I'm ecstatic at how we are playing so far."
Texas State is in third (593) after the Bobcats shaved a stroke off their opening round 297. UTSA is fourth (596) followed by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (613), McNeese State (614), Lamar (625) and Stephen F. Austin.
The tournament concludes today with 18 holes. The Bearkats will be paired with UCA and the two teams will begin teeing off from hole No. 1 at 8:10 a.m.
"I told the girls that to have a 10-shot lead heading into the final round is nice, but they have to stay level-headed," Chain added. "We have one more day and two-thirds doesn't do the deal. "I told them to be happy, enjoy tonight and be ready tomorrow."
Only two golfers managed to shoot under par on the opening day of the Southland Conference Women's Golf Championship on Monday. Sam Houston State's Meghan Musk and Central Arkansas' Rebecca Sorensen each carded a 1-under 70.
Things were a little better Tuesday. Sorensen matched her opening round 70 to remain in first place in the individual standings and SHSU's Kirsten Spittler set an SLC tournament record for a single round with a 3-under 68.
Texas State's Caitlin Bliss, who is in sixth place, and UTSA's Paola Valerio, who is tied for seventh, each posted a 1-under 70 Tuesday.
Sam Houston's Shelby Hardy just missed out joining the under-par party with an even 71 in the second round.
Final round play will begin at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. The top two teams, SHSU and Central Arkansas, will tee of beginning at 8:10 a.m.
SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE WOMEN'S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
Second Round Team and Individual Totals
| 1 | Sam Houston | 293 | 285 | 578 | |||
| 2 | Central Arkansas | 293 | 295 | 588 | |||
| 3 | Texas St | 297 | 296 | 593 | |||
| 4 | UTSA | 307 | 289 | 596 | |||
| 5 | A&M-Corpus Christi | 309 | 304 | 613 | |||
| 6 | McNeese | 298 | 316 | 614 | |||
| 7 | Lamar | 311 | 314 | 625 | |||
| 8 | Stephen F. Austin | 325 | 326 | 651 | |||
| 1 | Rebecca Sorenson | UCA | 70 | 70 | 140 | ||
| 2 | Kirsten Spittler | SHSU | 74 | 68 | 142 | ||
| 3 | Meghan Musk | SHSU | 70 | 73 | 143 | ||
| 4 | Valdis Jonsdottir | Texas St. | 71 | 73 | 144 | ||
| Shelby Hardy | SHSU | 73 | 71 | 144 | |||
| 6 | Caitlin Bliss | Texas St. | 76 | 70 | 146 | ||
| 7 | Gemma Hardie | UCA | 73 | 74 | 147 | ||
| 8 | Paola Varlerio | UTSA | 77 | 70 | 147 | ||
| 9 | Krista Puisite | Texas St. | 74 | 75 | 149 | ||
| Meghann Stevens | SHSU | 76 | 73 | 149 | |||
| Shannon Jungman | UTSA | 75 | 74 | 149 | |||
| 12 | Shelly Martinez | UTSA | 78 | 72 | 150 | ||
| Summer Batiste | UTSA | 77 | 73 | 150 | |||
| Courtney Peeler | AMCC | 75 | 75 | 150 | |||
| 15 | Landa Stewart | SHSU | 78 | 73 | 151 | ||
| 16 | Julia Roth | UCA | 73 | 79 | 152 | ||
| Stine Pedersen | Lamar | 78 | 74 | 152 | |||
| 18 | Lacy McKinley | McNeese | 72 | 81 | 153 | ||
| C J Bobbitt | UCA | 77 | 76 | 153 | |||
| Katie Belser | AMCC | 78 | 75 | 153 | |||
| Cecilia Jeon | AMCC | 77 | 76 | 153 | |||
| 22 | Wallis Spears | SFA | 73 | 81 | 154 | ||
| Lauren Van Gerven | Lamar | 77 | 77 | 154 | |||
| 24 | Katinka Dufour | Texas St. | 77 | 78 | 155 | ||
| Sara Hillman | UCA | 80 | 75 | 155 | |||
| 26 | Jennifer Herrmann | McNeese | 77 | 79 | 156 | ||
| Gabby De Reuck | Texas St. | 76 | 80 | 156 | |||
| 28 | Ryann White | AMCC | 79 | 78 | 157 | ||
| 29 | Randi Fischer | McNeese | 77 | 81 | 158 | ||
| Megan Reynolds | McNeese | 72 | 86 | 158 | |||
| 31 | Noelle Willcoxon | SFA | 80 | 79 | 159 | ||
| 32 | Trista Touchette | McNeese | 85 | 75 | 160 | ||
| 33 | Julie Aime | Lamar | 80 | 82 | 162 | ||
| 34 | Ashley Thorpe | Lamar | 82 | 81 | 163 | ||
| 35 | Chelsea Simmons | SFA | 82 | 82 | 164 | ||
| 36 | Bruna Spengler | UTSA | 82 | 83 | 165 | ||
| 37 | Chelsey Watkins | AMCC | 88 | 81 | 169 | ||
| 38 | Allison Flake | SFA | 90 | 84 | 174 | ||
| 39 | Erin Daurity | SFA | 90 | 86 | 176 | ||
| 40 | Linda Persson | Lamar | 76 | DQ |
