ROSEVILLE, Calif. – The Roadrunner women's golf team continued a grueling stretch of three tournaments over a nine-day span with the first two rounds of the Sacramento State Invitational on Monday. Senior Ariel Lee posted a pair of scores in the mid-70s to lead CSU Bakersfield on Day 1.
"It took us a while to get our sea legs this morning," said Meghan Thomason, Head Coach of the `Runners. "These kids have played 180 holes in the last eight days, so, fatigue was setting in, which caused everyone's ball flight to be different than normal."
Thomason went on to applaud her team for making tweaks and finishing strong: "We got it rolling once we made the adjustment. I'm really proud of the grit they showed today, especially in the second round. We know what to expect in the morning, mainly a wet and slow golf course."
Lee, who entered the tournament as CSUB's scoring leader on the year, paced the `Runners in each of the first two rounds. The native of Singapore carded a 76 (+4) to open the tournament and wrapped up the day with a round of 75. Her 36-hole score of 151 (+7) was strong enough to place Lee in the Top 20 out of more than 50 student-athletes.
Sophomore Macey Mills started the day with a 79, but bounced back with a 76 to come in just four strokes behind Lee on the day. Senior Tori Peers and redshirt junior Sara Scheidt rounded out the CSUB scoring four in both rounds, posting identical scores of 81 followed by much-improved 76s.
Senior Julia Stewart finished the day with rounds of 83 and 81 as the final member of CSUB's starting five. Fellow seniors Deedra Dollesin and April Chang competed as individuals on Monday. Dollesin posted a personal-best 77 in the first round and followed it up with an 80 to finish the first day tied with Peers and Scheidt. Chang came out slowly with an 89 in Round 1, but shook that off to post a 77, the second-best round of her `Runner career.
In the first round of the Sacramento State Invite, the `Runners used 317 (+29) strokes. Round 2 fared much better as CSUB came into the clubhouse having used 14 less strokes (303), making up crucial ground on the rest of the field. Despite sitting in eighth place of eight teams, the `Runners are just eight strokes behind sixth-place Cal State Fullerton.
On Tuesday, the `Runners will return for one final round of golf at Sierra View Country Club. Straight tee times will begin in the morning and live stats will be available again through GolfStat.com.
~GoRunners.com~
