March 20, 2009
AUSTIN, Texas - The 12th-ranked Purdue women's golf team fired a 291 (+3) in its opening round at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational and will begin the second round of play four strokes behind first place Arizona State. Both senior Maria Hernandez and sophomore Maude-Aimee LeBlanc are tied for first as individuals.
Hernandez, who won the Betsy Rawls Invitational in 2007, used back-to-back birdies on holes 14 and 15 along with a birdie on No. 7 to finish with an opening round 70 (-2). LeBlanc also carded a score of 70 (-2) in her opening round. The Sherbrooke, Quebec, native remained at even-par most of the afternoon before knocking in birdies on two of her final five holes, landing her in a six-way tie for first.
Sophomore Junthima Gulyanamitta shot a two-over par 74, giving her a share of 24th place. After teeing off from the 10th hole, Gulyanamitta recorded four bogeys and two birdies on the back nine before going on to a shoot a perfect even-par front nine.
Redshirt sophomoreThea Hoffmeister will begin Saturday's second round in a tie for 51st after carding an opening round 77 (+5).
Senior Carolyn Mess shot an 85 (+13).
Playing as an individual, freshman Vaishavi Sinha sits at eight-over par with a first round 80.
Leading the 17-team field is the number one team in the country Arizona State (287, -1), followed by second place Arkansas (288, E). Purdue and Vanderbilt remain four strokes back in a tie for third.
The 54-hole event is being hosted by Texas and played at the 6,324-yard, par-72 University of Texas Golf Club. The second round will get underway tomorrow with tee times beginning at 9:15 a.m. ET.
Live scoring of all three rounds can be found on golfstat.com. A full recap and results of each round will be posted at PurdueSports.com.