Northwestern University Athletics
Balanced Attack Leads To Strong First Day At NCAA Championships
5/20/2016 10:27:00 PM | Women's Golf
EUGENE, Ore. – No. 7 Northwestern opened the 2016 NCAA Golf Championships with a 4-over 292 and the Big Ten champions sit in sixth-place in the 24-team field after 18 holes. Paced by freshman Stephanie Lau (-1, T19), the Wildcats and tournament leading Oklahoma State are the only two teams in the field with all five student-athletes in the Top-55 heading into Saturday's second round.
2016 NCAA Golf Championships – LIVE Leaderboard
Eugene Country Club – Course Flyover & Map
2016 Northwestern Women's Golf Statistics
Northwestern Women's Golf Record Book
Northwestern will tee off Round 2 at Eugene Country Club at 8:36 a.m. PT, paired again with Oklahoma State and Arizona.
The Wildcats were led on Friday by a pair of freshmen making their NCAA Championships debut, a duo not at all phased by their first glimpse of the biggest stage in college golf.
Lau carded a team-high four birdies on a day where every member of the Northwestern lineup recorded multiple birdies and four 'Cats had at least three on the scorecard. The 2016 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, one of the longest Wildcats off the tee, played Eugene's four Par-5 offerings at 2-under on the day.
Classmate Janet Mao birdied two of her first four holes of the afternoon, and finished the first NCAA Championships round of her career with a 1-over 73.
Northwestern's three returnees from the 2015 Championships squad all finished Round 1 at 2-over, putting all five Wildcats within six strokes of the lead after the first day of competition. Sophomore Hannah Kim, the two-time Big Ten Player of the Year, played her final ten holes at 2-under with three birdies.
All five Wildcats carded 74 or better on a day where the average score was 74.32.
Northwestern – T6/24 • 292-R2-R3=292 (+4)
T19 – Stephanie Lau -- 71-R2-R3=71 (-1)
T39 – Janet Mao – 73-R2-R3=73 (+1)
T55 – Sarah Cho -- 74-R2-R3=74 (+2)
T55 – Hannah Kim -- 74-R2-R3=74 (+2)
T55 – Kacie Komoto -- 74-R2-R3=74 (+2)
This season marks the Wildcats fourth straight appearance in college golf's premier event. Northwestern earned a program-best 10th-place finish at the 2015 NCAA Championships at Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida.
All five Wildcats in the lineup this weekend earned 2016 All-Big Ten honors, with Komoto, Cho, Kim and Lau on the First Team, and Mao taking home Second Team recognition.
The 2016 Championships are the second year with the season's final event under the revised format. The 24-team field will play 54 holes of stroke play over the course of three days. The top 15 teams will then play one more round of stroke play on Monday, May 23. The top eight teams at the end of Monday's round will move into the match-play single elimination bracket. Tuesday will feature the quarterfinals and semifinals. The finals will be played Wednesday afternoon.
Golf Channel will provide unprecedented prime time coverage of the NCAA Women's Golf Championships. Twelve and a half hours of live event programming will be shown starting on Monday, May 23 and concluding with the match play finals on Wednesday afternoon.
2016 NCAA Golf Championships – LIVE Leaderboard
Eugene Country Club – Course Flyover & Map
2016 Northwestern Women's Golf Statistics
Northwestern Women's Golf Record Book
Northwestern will tee off Round 2 at Eugene Country Club at 8:36 a.m. PT, paired again with Oklahoma State and Arizona.
The #B1GCats will tee off Round 2 of the #NCAAGolf Championships Saturday at 8:36am PT at Eugene Country Club. pic.twitter.com/aehoh0LZyj
— #B1GCats Golf (@NUGolf_Live) May 21, 2016
The Wildcats were led on Friday by a pair of freshmen making their NCAA Championships debut, a duo not at all phased by their first glimpse of the biggest stage in college golf.
Lau carded a team-high four birdies on a day where every member of the Northwestern lineup recorded multiple birdies and four 'Cats had at least three on the scorecard. The 2016 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, one of the longest Wildcats off the tee, played Eugene's four Par-5 offerings at 2-under on the day.
Classmate Janet Mao birdied two of her first four holes of the afternoon, and finished the first NCAA Championships round of her career with a 1-over 73.
Northwestern's three returnees from the 2015 Championships squad all finished Round 1 at 2-over, putting all five Wildcats within six strokes of the lead after the first day of competition. Sophomore Hannah Kim, the two-time Big Ten Player of the Year, played her final ten holes at 2-under with three birdies.
All five Wildcats carded 74 or better on a day where the average score was 74.32.
Northwestern – T6/24 • 292-R2-R3=292 (+4)
T19 – Stephanie Lau -- 71-R2-R3=71 (-1)
T39 – Janet Mao – 73-R2-R3=73 (+1)
T55 – Sarah Cho -- 74-R2-R3=74 (+2)
T55 – Hannah Kim -- 74-R2-R3=74 (+2)
T55 – Kacie Komoto -- 74-R2-R3=74 (+2)
This season marks the Wildcats fourth straight appearance in college golf's premier event. Northwestern earned a program-best 10th-place finish at the 2015 NCAA Championships at Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida.
All five Wildcats in the lineup this weekend earned 2016 All-Big Ten honors, with Komoto, Cho, Kim and Lau on the First Team, and Mao taking home Second Team recognition.
The 2016 Championships are the second year with the season's final event under the revised format. The 24-team field will play 54 holes of stroke play over the course of three days. The top 15 teams will then play one more round of stroke play on Monday, May 23. The top eight teams at the end of Monday's round will move into the match-play single elimination bracket. Tuesday will feature the quarterfinals and semifinals. The finals will be played Wednesday afternoon.
Golf Channel will provide unprecedented prime time coverage of the NCAA Women's Golf Championships. Twelve and a half hours of live event programming will be shown starting on Monday, May 23 and concluding with the match play finals on Wednesday afternoon.
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