Golf: Women's
Nittany Lions put up strong first round at Cougar Classic
Before Penn State's women's golf team left for South Carolina to compete in the Cougar Classic, junior Ellen Ceresko said the Nittany Lions was planning on making a statement on the course to the rest of the schools participating. She was confident in her team's ability to place well in the tournament, despite 13 of the 24 teams in the field being ranked in Golfweek's final Top 25 of last season.
So far, the Lions are backing up Ceresko's words.
After the opening round Sunday, the team is in eleventh place with a total team score of 293 (+5). The Lions are currently ahead of four of those ranked teams--LSU (No. 4, T-21st place), UNC (No. 6, T-15th), Tennessee (No. 15, 13th), and South Carolina (No. 18, 23rd).
Individually, Ceresko and fellow junior Christina Vosters lead the Lions with a pair of 71s (-1), good enough for a share of 13th place. Sophomore Elyse Archambault fired a first round score of 75 (+3), senior Emily Ransone shot a 76 (+4), and sophomore Katlyn Elliot shot a 77 (+5) to round out the team's scoring, finishing the day tied for 60th, 77th, and 88th place, respectively.
USC leads the field after the first day of competition, notching a total team score of 285 (-3). Duke (-2), Virginia (-2), Florida (-2), and Auburn (-1) round out the Top 5.
Isabelle Lendl of Florida and Marta Sanz of Auburn lead all players with 67s (-5), with four more golfers trailing by two strokes.
Live scoring can be followed at http://www.golfstatresults.com//public/index.cfm?tournament_id=3735, and end-of-tournament coverage can be found later this week inside The Daily Collegian.