University of Georgia Athletics
University of Georgia
SEC Championships
Georgia Sixth At SEC Women's Golf
April 15, 2011 | Women's Golf
April 15, 2011
AUBURN, Ala. --- The 11th-ranked Georgia women's golf team fired a 4-over 292 in the opening round of the SEC Championships at the Auburn University Club on Friday, leaving the Bulldogs in sixth place but only nine shots off the pace.
Marta Silva Zamora and Kiara Hayshida posted 2- and 1-under tallies, respectively, to lead Georgia, which also counted an even-par effort from Emilie Burger and a 79 from Milena Savich. The Bulldogs dropped Amelia Hill's 80.
"Overall, I'm pretty pleased," head coach Kelley Hester said. "We were one more score from being right up there. It certainly could've been better, but we didn't shoot ourselves in the foot. I'm a little disappointed that we're in sixth place. I think we played better than that, but there are a lot of good teams in this league. If we can put four good rounds together tomorrow, that should put us in a good position going into the last day."
The Bulldogs turned at 6-over but then played the first three holes of the back half of the course at 6-under to get back to even on the day. From there, Georgia dropped five strokes at No. 13 and No. 14 before covering the final four holes at 1-under.
A pair of double-bogeys at No. 5 and No. 8 cost Silva Zamora, who also had six birdies on the day at No. 1, No. 4, No. 6, No. 7, No. 11 and No. 12.
Hayashida notched her first under-par round in two seasons at Georgia by mixing five birdies with four bogeys. After a slow start with bogeys at No. 1 and No. 2, she inched back to even with birdies at No. 3 and No. 5. Hayashida turned at 1-over after a bogey at No. 9 but consecutive birdies at No. 10 and No. 11 and another at No. 16 pushed her to 2-under before she gave a stroke back with a bogey at No. 18.
"Kiara's been heading in this direction," Hester said. "I felt like it was just a matter of time. After the round she said 'It's about time,' and I told her 'No, your timing is perfect.' Burger was very patient. She had some birdies coming in but happened to bogey 18, which is a very difficult hole. Marta had two not very good swings and those swings really bit her. Other than that, she played very, very well. We'll see if we can get Amelia and Milena back on track tomorrow."
No. 17 Auburn logged a 5-under 283 on its home course to grab the first-round lead. No. 14 Tennessee, including individual leader Erica Popson's 66, is second at 285, followed by No. 8 LSU at 287, No. 12 Arkansas at 289, No. 3 Alabama at 291, the Bulldogs at 292, No. 21 Vanderbilt at 295, Florida at 301 and South Carolina at 302.
Popson owns a three-shot lead over Auburn's Cydney Clanton and Arkansas' Emily Turber. Silva Zamora is among five golfers tied for fourth, while Hayashida is tied for ninth, Burger is tied for 14th, Savich is tied for 44th and Hill is tied for 46th.
Live scoring throughout the tournament can be found at www.golfstat.com.
SEC Women's Golf Championships
Auburn University Club
Auburn, Ala.
Par 72; 6,364 Yards
Friday's First-Round Results
Team Leaderboard
Auburn 283
Tennessee 285
LSU 287
Arkansas 289
Alabama 291
Georgia 292
Vanderbilt 295
Florida 301
South Carolina 302
Kentucky 315
Ole Miss 315
Mississippi State 315
Individual Leaderboard
Erica Popson, Tennessee 66
Cydney Clanton, Auburn 69
Emily Tubert, Arkansas 69
Marta Silva Zamora, Georgia 70
Anna Leigh Keith, Vanderbilt 70
Brooke Pancake, Alabama 70
Tessa Teachman, LSU 70
Carlie Yadloczky, Auburn 70
Kiara Hayashida, Georgia 71
Erika Thornton, Miss. St. 71
Haley Wilson, Auburn 71
Mia Piccio, Florida 71
Stephanie Meadow, Alabama 71
Additional Georgia Scores
T14. Emilie Burger 72
T44. Milena Savich 79
T46. Amelia Hill 80
