Spartans Strong At EKU El Diablo Intercollegiate
3/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
March 12, 2009
First & Second Round Results in PDF Format
Citrus Springs, Fla. - The USC Upstate women's golf team turned in two strong rounds Thursday in the first day of the 54-hole EKU El Diablo Intercollegiate. The Spartans are in fifth place heading into Friday's final round at the El Diablo Golf and Country Club.
Led by Julie Miller and Richelle Wedzik, Upstate opened the tournament with a 316 Thursday morning. Miller and Wedzik each turned in 77s as Upstate stood sixth after completion of the round. The Spartans, which has become the norm, lowered their score from the first to the second round, firing a 314 in the afternoon to finish the day with a 630 total. The effort allowed Upstate to move up one spot and into fifth place entering the final round.
"We are all excited," said Upstate assistant coach Sandy Halkett. "I knew in our practice round that the course set up well for us. Everyone had a pretty good feel for the course after the practice round. It was a unique day. I really felt like we were going to shoot higher in the second round and was hoping we wouldn't fizzle out on the last five holes. But, when the scores came in, they really impressed me today. They looked at the scoreboard like I have never seen them do before. It was a new side of them that I haven't seen. All of the girls turned in a round in the 70s today. What I would like to see is for them to channel those rounds and have everyone shoot in the 70s tomorrow."
Upstate trails tournament leader Ball State by 25 strokes. Ball State owns a 605 total and leads by nine strokes over Florida Atlantic. James Madison is third at 619, while Indianapolis is fourth and leads Upstate by three strokes with a 627 total. Upstate, in fifth, leads Southern Illinois (634) and St. John's (634) by four strokes. The two teams are followed by Austin Peay (635), Florida Gulf Coast (635), Murray State (641), Eastern Kentucky (650), Radford (656), UAB (661), SIU Edwardsville (673) and IUPUI (693) in the 15-team field.
Miller, a senior, has been the catalyst on the team the last two tournaments and again led the team on day one of the El Diablo. She currently ranks in a tie for 19th after turning in rounds of 77and 81. She owns a 158 total. Jennifer Judge is tied with Miller at 158 after rounds of 78 and 80. Wedzik carded an 82 in the afternoon round and is tied for 23rd with a 159 total to give Upstate three players in the top-25.
"Julie was just steady all day long," said Halkett. "She had a lot of family watching her. She could have gotten emotional knowing it was the last time her grandparents were going to get to see her play. Instead, she played determined and did really well."
Audrey Church shaved eight strokes off her first round score to post a 76 in the afternoon to finish as the low Spartan in the second round. She stands tied for 27th with a 160 total as four Spartans rank in the top-30 in the tournament. Richia Wedzik rebounded from an 88 in the first round to post the team's second-lowest score in the afternoon with a 77, lowering her score by 11 shots from the opening round. She is 47th with a 165 total.
"Audrey's putter came alive in the second round," said Halkett. "It was the same thing with Richia. Even though she wasn't hitting her driver well, she got up and down because of her short game."
Florida Atlantic's P. Phol-uayporn leads the tournament with a 5-under-par 139 total. She owns a seven-stroke lead over Ball State's Kristy O'Connor at 146.
