The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Papa Johns Collegiate
UAB Women 12th In Spring Opener
2/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Feb. 19, 2006
CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Christina Wentworth's opening-round 78 leads the UAB women's golf contingent at the Papa Johns Collegiate hosted by the University of Miami on Sunday. Wentworth is six strokes off the individual lead. UAB is in 12th place after the first of three rounds.
The three-day, 54-hole tournament is being played at the par-72, 6,317-yard Don Shula's Golf Course.
"The course is not really a hard course, but the pins are in some difficult places which is making play tough," UAB head coach Kim Wilcox said. "They also have Bermuda greens which we are not as accustomed to, so we've had some challenges in our putting." Krista Tressler (80), Martha Hudson (81), Janey Deimling (83) and Ashlee Claydon (83) all shot within three strokes of one another, but the Blazers are 12th out of 12 teams in a field in which all 11 of its foes are ranked in the Golfweek/Sagarin top-100. "It's a tough field, but we can only learn from playing this type of competition," Wilcox said. "We need to put better Monday and see if we can make up some ground. For our first effort of the spring, I'm not entirely disappointed, but we know we can play better."
UAB is just nine team strokes behind 11th place Coastal Carolina.
The College of Charleston put together the day's only sub-300 round to take the team lead with a 299. Alabama, Mississippi State, Louisville, East Carolina and Kentucky round out the top six with the later three tied for fourth at 305.
Mississippi State's Amanda Mathis and Christina Jones of USF set the individual pace with even par 72s.
The tournament will continue with 18 holes Monday and Tuesday.
