Day One Cumulative Results
Team Results | Individual Results | Day One Stats
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Ann Arbor, Mich.-- The conditions were less than ideal as the first of 66 golfers teed off at the 2005 Big Ten Women's Golf Championships. While temperatures hovered around 40 degrees with winds wiping up as the day progressed, that did not stop the athletes from heating up on Friday morning. The three day event saw two rounds completed on Friday and 18 holes scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday. After the first 36 holes on Friday, Ohio State is in control of the team race with a 19-shot lead, and Buckeye senior Kristen White sits atop the individual standings two shots up on the field with a 146 2-over par.
In the Big Ten Championships, each school is represented by six golfers and the four top scores of each round count towards the team's overall total.
Early on in the day, Purdue junior Onnarin Sattaybanphot set the pace for the field. After her first nine holes, she led the pack with a score of four-under, having scored birdies on the second and eighth holes and an eagle on the fourth. At the turn, Sattaybanphot held a three-shot lead over a tightly packed-group. Despite the drops of rain that occasionally made their presence known, Sattatbanphot held onto the lead and finished even after one round. One shot back at 73, were Spartan Heather Rose and Buckeyes Jennifer Selfinger and Kristen White.
Midway through the opening-round, the Boilers shot out to a score of five-under, relying heavily on Sattaybanphot's impressive front nine. Northwestern, Ohio State, and Michigan State spent the opening-nine holes of the first round jostling for second. However, as the Buckeyes moved into the latter stages of their round, Ohio State closed the gap, and eventually took over the first place position. The three-time defending champion Bucks moved out to a four-shot advantage over their closest competitor, as teams prepared to begin their second set of 18. At a nine-over 297, the Scarlet and Gray out-paced second place Purdue, who ended their first round at +13, 301. Michigan State entered the clubhouse after the 18th hole in third with 306 strokes, and Iowa was in fourth at 308. The host Michigan Wolverines finished the first round in fifth tied with Northwestern, 13 strokes off the Buckeye pace.
As the morning's drops of rain fell intermittently, the early afternoon's rains came down more steadily as the first teams took their first shots in the second round. OSU's White birdied three and bogeyed two of the first nine holes to match Sattaybanphot's score of even par, who dropped a two shots after double-bogeying her second attempt at hole five. White sat in sole possession of the lead heading into 18 for the second time on Friday, but recorded a double bogey before ending her day at +2. Her 146-shot performance was good enough for the 36 hole lead. A pair of White's Buckeye teammates, Lindsay Knowlton and Jennifer Singer, occupied the second individual position tied at +4. Rose and Sattayabanphot finished in the fourth position at five-over.
Having staked themselves to a four-shot lead after the first round, the Buckeyes increased their advantage in the second set of 18. The four Buckeye golfers combined to go +8 in the second round to build a 19-stroke lead over Michigan State who moved into second, a single shot in front of both Purdue and Michigan. The Northwestern Wildcats remained in fifth at + 46.
With 30 MPH wind and four to six inches of snow in the forecast for Saturday, the remainder of the championships is in doubt. Big Ten rules specify that championships can be reduced from 72 holes to 18, 36, or 54 if inclement weather dictates. Log onto BigTen.org for live scoring and breaking Women's Golf Championships news.
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