UC Davis in Eighth Place At New Mexico

Sept. 19, 2009

Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational Live Scoring

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Two birdies and 15 pars helped UC Davis junior Alice Kim to a 1-under 72 in Saturday's second round, helping her into a tie for 13th after 36 holes and leading the Aggie women's golf team into eighth at the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational at the University of New Mexico.

Junior Chelsea Stelzmiller and freshman Belen Hernandez each had 73's during the same round as UC Davis fired a 3-over 295.

Kim opened the day with a 73 at the 6,178-yard layout at the UNM Championship Course which was site of the 2008 NCAA Division I Championships. Her 1-under 145 has her knotted with three other players, six shots off the lead held by Kendra Little of Oregon who is at 7-under.

The Aggies' strong round in the afternoon came after shooting 302 in the morning. UC Davis is four shots behind seventh-place Indiana which is at 9-over and one in front of Big West Conference rival UC Irvine which is at 14-over. Pepperdine has a five-shot advantage in the 18-team tournament, finishing the day at 9-under 575. Host New Mexico is second while TCU (-2) and UNLV (-1) round out the only other teams below par.

Bouyed by their solid play in the second round, Stelzmiller is tied for 23rd at 2-over while Hernandez is tied for 45th at 6-over. Freshman Amy Simanton, who had a 76 in the morning, is tied for 56th at 7-over while senior Kimberly Johnson is tied for 66th at 9-over after her 77 in the second round.

Kim is coming off a sophomore campaign in which she earned All-America honorable mention honors. She had four birdies in her first round before playing a steady round later in the day. She opened her second round with a birdie at the par-4 13th, then had a bogey and birdie on consecutive holes later before rattling off 11 straight pars to finish with her sub-par round.

Stelzmiller's day featured six birdies - three in each round - while Hernandez had three during her afternoon's play. Simanton's debut was highlighted by four birdies while Johnson had a pair.

Little leads Jodi Ewart of New Mexico by one shot heading into Sunday's final round which begins at 6:30 a.m. (Pacific).

BRANCH LAW FIRM/DICK McGUIRE INVITATIONAL
Albuquerque, N.M. (hosted by New Mexico)
UNM Championship Course
Par 73; 6,187 yards

TEAMS
1. Pepperdine, 288-287-575
2. New Mexico, 294-286-580
3. TCU, 291-291-582
4. UNLV, 291-292-583
5. Oregon, 297-293-590
6. Northwestern, 297-294-591
7. Indiana, 297-296-593
8. UC DAVIS, 302-295-597
9. UC Irvine, 304-294-598
10. San Diego State, 300-301-601
11. Arkansas, 300-303-603
T12. Colorado, 310-296-606
T12. Texas A&M, 303-303-606
T12. San Francisco, 295-311-606
15. Colorado State, 304-304-608
T16 .Oklahoma, 306-303-609
T16. UTEP, 308-301-609
18. Wyoming, 306-312-618