April 26, 2002
URBANA, Ill. - The Purdue women's golf team is in second place after the first two rounds of the Big Ten Women's Golf Championship.
The event is being played at the par-72, 6,276-yard Stone Creek Golf Club and hosted by the University of Illinois. Each school has six individuals participating in each round, with the top four scores counting towards the team's total.
Purdue fired a first-day 591 and trails Ohio State by five strokes for first place.
The Boilermakers led the event after the first round after firing a 294. Through 18 holes, the Old and Black had three golfers in the top five of the individual standings. In the second round, the Boilermakers carded a 297. All six Boilermakers are in the top 25 and four are in the top 15.
"Our first round was real solid," said head coach Devon Brouse. "The girls played steady and were very consistent."
The Boilermakers were led by senior Caroline Laurens, who fired a two-over 146 and is tied for fifth place. Laurens carded a 72 in the morning and followed it up with a 74 in the afternoon.
Junior Heather Zielinski carded a 149 and is tied for seventh. She carded a first-round 76 and team-low 73 in second round. Sophomore Beth Hermes had a 150 and is tied for 11th. Senior Christy Rittenhouse is tied for 15th after a two-round total of 151.
Junior All-America candidate Kari Damron fired a 153. She had a 73 in the first round and carded an 80 in the second round. She is tied for 22nd.
Senior Andrea Makauskas has a two-round total of 154 and is tied for 24th.
"We are in the hunt and that's the biggest plus after the first day," said Brouse. "We have to catch Ohio State and they are a great team, so it will be a challenge. If we are going to win here we're going to have to have some players come out and put some very low scores on the board, while the remaining players remain consistent."
The No. 21 Boilermakers are one of three Big Ten schools ranked in the top 25 of the Golfweek/Sagarin golf rankings. Ohio State is ranked fourth and Michigan State is 13th.
The third round begins on Saturday at 8 a.m. CDT and the final round will begin on Sunday at 8 a.m. CDT. Rain is in the forecast for the Urbana, Ill., area.
"The weather could be a factor tomorrow," said Brouse. "How well we handle adverse conditions could enter into the equation tomorrow so we'll have to keep our eye on the weather."
Place Individual 1st Rd. 2nd Rd. 3rd Rd. 4th Rd. Total T-5th Caroline Laurens 72 74 146 +2T-7th Heather Zielinski 76 73 149 +5T-11th Beth Hermes 76 74 150 +6T-15th Christy Rittenhouse 73 78 151 +7T-22nd Kari Damron 73 80 153 +9T-24th Andrea Makauskas 78 76 154 +10
Place Team 1st Rd. 2nd Rd. 3rd Rd. 4th Rd. Total1st Ohio State 297 289 5862nd Purdue 294 297 5913rd Indiana 305 292 5974th Michigan 302 296 5985th Michigan State 300 305 6056th Illinois 307 299 606 Northwestern 304 302 6068th Wisconsin 303 312 6159th Penn State 315 306 62110th Iowa 318 305 62311th Minnesota 314 311 625