March 26, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The ninth-ranked Purdue women's golf team is in a three-way tie for second place, 10 strokes behind first-place Duke after the first round of the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic in Athens, Ga.
The Boilermakers opened with a team total of 310 as did Auburn and North Carolina. The Blue Devils fired a 300 at the University of Georgia Golf Course, a par-72, 6,335-yard venue to earn first place after the first day. Arkansas is in fifth place with a score of 312.
Players encountered challenging conditions early in the day at the UGA Golf Course. Temperatures, which began in the 50s, rose to the mid-60s by mid-afternoon, and the wind remained a factor throughout, gusting at times over 20 mph. Duke's Lindy Duncan was the only player on the course to finish even-par or better, carding a two-under 70 to stand in first place as an individual.
Boilermaker junior Maude-Aimee LeBlanc is tied for fifth after opening with a 75 on Friday. Freshman Laura Gonzalez Escallon posted Purdue's second-best score with a 77 that has her tied for 22nd. Juniors Thea Hoffmeister and Numa Gulyanamitta both recorded 79s in the first round and are tied for 32nd. Kishi Sinha carded an 82 and is tied for 66th place.
Purdue will tee off beginning at 10:50 a.m. ET on Saturday. Live scoring will be available on golfstat.com and a recap of the second round will be posted to purduesports.com. The third and final round will be played on Sunday.