Sept. 12, 2011

Live scoring

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Junior Demi Runas tied the school record with her 6-under 66 in Monday's first round of the Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic hosted by Colorado State, taking a two-shot lead and leading the UC Davis women's golf team to a one-stroke advantage after 36 holes of the season-opening tournament.

Runas, who had a 71 in the afternoon round, leads Hayley Davis of Baylor who is two shots back at 5 under. Her 66 tied the school record held by Alice Kim who accomplished it twice last season.

Runas helped UC Davis, which has a pair of true freshmen in its lineup, to a one-stroke lead over Colorado at 1-under 575. Illinois is in third, three shots off the pace at 579 while Baylor (588) and Cal (589) round out the top five.

Aggie junior Amy Simanton is also in the top 10, tied for eighth at 1 over after highlighting her day with a first-round 71. Sophomore Jessica Chulya is tied for 15th at 3-over 147 while freshmen Blair Lewis and Beverly Vatananugulk are both tied for 19th at 4 over in their UC Davis debuts.

"The team played very well today," said head coach Anne Walker. "Everyone's emotions were even-keeled and that helped us play well in what turned out to be 11-1/2 hours on the course. We're excited about tomorrow and building on today."

Runas, last season's Big West Player of the Year, picked up where she left off in the spring. She opened her round on Monday with birdies on three of her first seven holes and then ended the round with two straight birdies. She had three birdies and just two bogeys in the afternoon.

Simanton had a very steady first round, shooting 71 after collecting two birdies, only one bogey and 15 pars including eight in a row. She was 2 under early in her second round before coming in with a 74 for a 145 total. Chulya had five birdies on Monday, posting three of them of a four-hole span of the first round when she had a 74, and then had back-to-back birdies on her front nine in the afternoon.

Lewis and Vatananugulkit are each at 148 with Lewis opening her day with a 76 before carding four birdies in the afternoon to shoot par. She had bookend birdies to start and finish her second round. Vatananugulk had five combined birdies on Monday, posting two in the first round when she played the last 11 holes 1 under.

The 19 teams in the tournament will conclude play at Ptarmigan Country Club on Tuesday with a shotgun round beginning at 7:30 a.m. (Pacific).

The tournament is the first of the season for UC Davis which is the two-time Big West champion and is coming off its second NCAA Finals appearance in the past four years.

PTARMIGAN RAM FALL CLASSIC
Ft. Collins, Colo. (hosted by Colorado State)
Ptarmigan Country Club
Par 72, 6,302 yards
36 of 54 holes

TEAMS
1. UC DAVIS, 286-289-575
2. Colorado, 289-287-576
3. Illinois, 292-287-579
4. Baylor, 294-294-588
5. Cal, 295-294-589
6. Texas Tech, 298-294-592
7. Colorado State, 297-299-596
8. Louisville, 300-298-598
T9. San Jose State, 313-292-605
T9. Fresno State, 302-303-605
T9. Idaho, 295-310-605
T9. UTEP, 302-303-605
13. UNLV, 298-309-607
14. Long Beach State, 310-303-613
15. New Mexico State, 306-310-616
16. Nevada, 307-311-618
17. Wyoming, 312-312-624
18. Northern Colorado, 319-319-638
19. Santa Clara, 313-328-641

INDIVIDUAL
1. Demi Runas, UC Davis, 66-71-137

UC DAVIS
T8. Amy Simanton, 71-74-147
T15. Jessica Chulya, 74-73-147
T19. Blair Lewis, 76-72-148
T19. Beverly Vatananugulk, 75-73-148