Northwestern Tied For Third After Opening Round Of NCAA Championships

CARLSBAD, Calif. (May 17, 2024) – The Northwestern University women's golf team finds itself as part of a tie for third place following the first round of the NCAA Women's Golf Championships this afternoon in Carlsbad, Calif.
 
The Wildcats closed the opening 18 holes of play at the Champions Course (par 72; 6,330 yards) at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa with a three-under-par 285 that has them deadlocked with Stanford and Auburn.  Clemson (280) owns a slim one-shot lead over Texas A&M (281), while Florida State's Lottie Woad carded the top round of the day, shooting a seven-under 65 to take the individual lead.
 
Northwestern was led on a cool and overcast afternoon by the trio of Jennifer Cai, Jieni Li, and Ashley Yun, all of whom turned in one-under-par 71s.  The three are part of a tie for 18^th place.
 
Cai finished the day with three birdies, two of which came on the front nine.  Playing just over 50 miles from her hometown of Irvine, Calif., Cai was bogey-free on the back nine, finishing at one-under across her final nine holes.
 
Li got off to a fast start, birdying three of her first six holes as part of a two-under-par front nine.  The Hangzhou, China product went on to close her day with a team-high five birdies, a mark which tied for fourth amongst individual competitors.
 
Making her NCAA Championships debut, Yun wasted no time in making an impact, tallying three birdies of her own on the front nine.  A native of West Covina, Calif., Yun went on to par eight of her final nine holes of the day.
 
Jiayi Wang finds herself a shot back of the aforementioned trio, sitting tied for 38^th following an even-par 72 in the first NCAA Championships round of her career.  Lauryn Nguyen rounded the starting five for the Wildcats today with a five-over 77 (T-116^th).    
 
Northwestern resumes action at the NCAA Women's Golf Championships on Saturday morning, with tee times for the 'Cats set to begin at 9:57 a.m. (CT).