May 10, 2012
Live Scoring and Results | Aggie Postseason Notes | Tournament website
ERIE, Colo. - Back-to-back birdies early in her day helped spark Demi Runas' 2-over 74 in Thursday's first round as the No. 23 UC Davis women's golf team shot a 17-over par 305 and is tied for 18th at the NCAA Div. I West Regional at Colorado National Golf Club.
UC Davis is trying to earn its third berth in five years to the NCAA Finals which will be held later this month in Tennessee. The top eight teams will advance to national championship and the Aggies are eight shots out of a current four-way tie for seventh.
Runas is tied for 32nd among the regional's 126 players after leading UC Davis over the first 18 holes of the 54-hole regional championship. Freshman Beverly Vatananugulkit finished with a 76 and is tied for 54th, freshman Blair Lewis had a 77 and is tied for 70th, junior Amy Simanton carded a 78 and is tied for 82nd, and sophomore Jessica Chulya opened with an 82 and is tied for 116th.
"It was a shaky start for the Aggies," said head coach Anne Walker. "We are within firing distance of the top 10 and that's all that matters. We have been in this situation before, including at conference a couple of weeks ago, so we know what to do from here."
Stanford, ranked 40th, was the only team to finish below par on the par-72, 6,575 yard course, posting a 1-under 287 team score. The Cardinal lead No. 6 North Carolina by a stroke and top-ranked UCLA by three. UC Davis, three-time defending Big West champion, is tied with No. 26 Oklahoma and is at least four shots ahead of the five teams behind it in the standings.
Runas had the best round of the way for the Aggies despite bogeys on two of her first three holes. She rebounded quickly, however, collecting birdies on the par-4 fourth hole and the par-3 fifth to bring her back to even. She made her turn at par and then had eight pars and just one bogey the rest of the way to finish 2 over.
Vatananugulkit, the Big West Championship's medalist, had a nice start as well, opening and closing her front nine with four pars sandwiched around a bogey to make her turn just 1 over. She had a birdie on the back and was 3 over to help her come in with a 76.
Lewis was 3 over after nine holes and highlighted a 2-over 38 on the back nine with a birdie-3 on the 13th hole. She added 11 pars on the day for her 5-over 77. Simanton had 12 pars and a birdie to help key her 78 while Chulya bounced back from a 6-over 42 on the front nine to play the last nine holes 4 over.
Stanford's Sydney Burlison had a 5-under 67 and is two shots in front of Hayley Davis of Baylor. Eleven players shot in the red on Thursday.
The tournament continues with the 24 competing teams split into morning and afternoon waves. The Aggies will play in the afternoon. The regional concludes on Saturday.
NCAA DIV. I WOMEN'S GOLF WEST REGIONAL
Erie, Colo. (hosted by Univ. of Colorado)
Colorado National Golf Club
Par 72, 6,575 yards
18 of 54 holes
TEAMS
1. Stanford, 287
2. North Carolina, 288
3. UCLA, 290
4. LSU, 291
T5. Illinois, 296
T5. California, 296
T7. Colorado, 297
T7. Pepperdine, 297
T7. Tulsa, 297
T10. Texas Tech, 300
T10. Baylor, 300
T10. UNLV, 302
T10. Iowa State, 302
T12. TCU, 302
T12. San Jose State, 302
16. New Mexico, 303
17. Denver, 304
18. Oklahoma, 305
T18. UC DAVIS, 305
20. Kennesaw State, 309
21. Northern Colorado, 311
22. Oregon State, 313
23. Missouri State, 314
24. Jackson State, 348
INDIVIDUALS
1. Sydney Burlison, Stanford, 67
UC DAVIS
T32. Demi Runas, 74
T54. Beverly Vatananugulkit, 76
T70. Blair Lewis, 77
T82. Amy Simanton, 78
T116. Jessica Chulya, 82
