May 7, 2009
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The ninth-ranked Purdue women's golf team shot an opening round 295 (+7) at the 2009 NCAA Central Regional and will begin the second round tied for second place. Sophomore Maude-Aimee LeBlanc leads all Boilermaker golfers in a tie for fifth with a first round score of 71 (-1). UCLA leads the 21-team field at four-under par (284).
LeBlanc was the only Boilermaker to shoot a sub-par round on Thursday. The Sherbrooke, Quebec, native started her round by knocking in a birdie on her first hole and shot birdies on holes No. 4 and 9 to climb to three-under at the turn. The 2009 co-Big Ten medalist made two bogeys on the back nine, landing her in tie for fifth with New Mexico's Jodi Ewart.
Senior Maria Hernandez is tied for ninth with an opening round score of 73 (+1). The three-time Big Ten Golfer of the Year tapped in three birdies during her round but struggled on the back nine, shooting back-to-back bogeys on the 14th and 15th holes.
Sophomore Junthima Gulyanamitta is the third Boilermaker in the top 15. The Muang Rayong, Thailand, native knocked in two birdies on Thursday en route to an opening round score of 74 (+2), placing her in a tie for 13th.
Thea Hoffmeister will tee off the second round in a tie for 47th (77, +5).
Freshman Vaishavi Sinha fired an opening round score of 86 (+14).
The third-seeded Boilermakers are competing in their 13th consecutive regional tournament and are competing at the par-72, 6,246-yard Scarlet Course at the Ohio State University Golf Club. The NCAA Central Regional consists of three rounds in three days. At the conclusion of the 54-hole tournament, the top eight teams from each of the three regional tournaments will advance to the NCAA Championships, to be held May 19 to 22 at the Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md.
Hole-by-hole scoring for the second and third rounds will be available on golfstat.com