Seton Hall University
First Round
WGolf Leads BIG EAST Field Following Round One
4/17/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
April 17, 2014
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. - In three short years, the Seton Hall women's golf team has gone from finishing a distant last place at the 2011 BIG EAST Championship to today when it completed the first round of the 2014 Championship as the tournament leaders by three strokes.
Led by junior Erin McClure (Tucson, Ariz.) the Pirates shot a 26-over-par, 314, in round one at picturesque LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla. and lead Georgetown by three strokes entering Friday's second round. St. John's is third at 32-over-par, while Xavier is fourth at 33-over-par.
"We are really excited to be in this position," said Head Coach Sara Doell. "I'm so happy to see our hard work paying off. We have a very long way to go, but I couldn't be more proud of our performance and mental toughness through 18 holes. We have a huge opportunity in front of us. We need to keep playing the way we know we're capable."
McClure fired a 5-over-par, 77, in round one and is tied for third place among all individual golfers. She trails the individual leader, Harin Lee of St. John's, by three strokes. Lee won the individual title as a freshman in 2011.
The par-72 Hills Course played longer than it's advertised 6,176 yards on Thursday. Players faced gusty breezes that became stronger as the round went on. By the time all players had wrapped up in mid-afternoon, sustained winds topped 20 miles per hour with some gusts hitting 30.
Unfortunately, the forecast for Friday is not promising. Because of wet and potentially stormy weather, the second round has been pushed up 15 minutes to a 7:45 a.m. ET shotgun start.
As the first round neared completion, St. John's and Seton Hall found themselves running neck and neck, with Georgetown having finished its rounds and lurking in the rearview mirror. All five Pirate golfers avoided trouble and shot par on the par-4, 340-yard 18th hole for a steady finish. St. John's lost ground when Lee bogeyed No. 18 and Anna Kim carded a triple-bogey 7.
Ali Kruse (Overland Park, Kan.) is currently tied for sixth place and trails McClure by just one stroke after a 6-over-par, 78,
Freshman Megan Tenhundfeld (Loveland, Ohio) is only one stroke behind Kruse with a 7-over-par, 79. She's tied for eighth place overall.
Senior Hannah Basalone (Brea, Calif.) , playing in her fourth and final BIG EAST Championship, became the fourth Seton Hall golfer to crack the top-10. Basalone is tied for 10th following an 8-over-par, 80, in round one.
Karlie Zabrosky (Erie, Pa.) had a harsh start to her round, shooting 10-over-par on the front nine. But the freshman rebounded nicely to shoot only 1-over-par on the back nine for an 11-over-par, 83.
Results will be available at SHUpirates.com and Golfstat.com following each round's completion.
