Thursday, April 19
Greystone Golf & Country Club / Birmingham, Ala.
All Day
University of Georgia
4th (306-290=596)
at
SEC Championships
Photo by: Steven Colquitt
Bulldogs Turn In Low Round At SECs
April 19, 2018 | Women's Golf
Bulldogs Turn In Low Round At SECs
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Georgia posted a 2-over 290, the low team tally of the day, in Thursday's second round of the SEC Women's Golf Championships at Greystone Golf and Country Club. The Bulldogs vaulted from seventh to fourth on the leaderboard entering Friday's final round of stroke play.
The top-eight teams following 54 holes will advance to a match play bracket to determine the SEC Champion. Georgia is currently 17 strokes off the "cut" to reach match play.
"It's kind of the way we've been all spring," head coach Josh Brewer said. "When we've been up against it, they've responded. They stepped up today and played great from the first tee until the final putt went in."
Thursday marked the first time the Bulldogs have posted the low daily round at the SEC Championships since Georgia opened the 2010 tournament with an 8-under 280.
Jillian Hollis and Paula Neira Garcia led the Bulldogs on Thursday with rounds of 2-under 70 and even-par 72, respectively. Georgia also counted a pair of 74s from Rinko Mitsunaga and Isabella Skinner, while dropping Gabriela Coello's 78.
"Jillian played like the person we've known all spring," Brewer said. "The first day wasn't they way she's played so far this season, but she responded the way a true All-American and National Player of the Year candidate should respond. She had a great round today.
"It's Paula's birthday, so first of all I have to wish her a happy birthday or I'd be a bad coach," Brewer continued. "She gave us a great round. We knew it would come because she has the talent. I'm excited for her. We all know her best golf's coming. Hopefully, this is a round that jump starts her going forward."
Overall, Hollis is tied for fifth at 1-over 145, six shots off the pace of South Carolina's Ainhoa Olarra. In addition, Mitsunaga is tied for 16th at 149, Neira Garcia is tied for 19th at 150, Skinner is tied for 27th at 152 and Coello is tied for 44th at 156.
Hollis, who had her streak of six straight under-par rounds snapped on Wednesday, started her day with six pars before a trio of birdies at No. 6, No. 7 and No. 8 pushed her to 3-under at the turn. She gave a pair of those shots back with bogeys at No. 10 and No. 12, but closed with a birdie at No. 18 to finish at 2-under.
"You've just got to go out there and play some golf," Hollis said. "Yesterday, I put a lot of pressure on myself when I didn't need to. It's golf. You get bad breaks. I got some bad breaks yesterday. I had mud on my ball twice and it caused bogeys. I got some bad kicks. That made a difference. I just put less pressure on myself today."
Neira Garcia's loop was a little more eventful than Hollis'. She turned at 1-over after a bogey at No. 1, a birdie at No. 3, a double-bogey at No. 6 and a birdie at No. 8. She pulled back to even with another birdie at No. 10 but suffered through successive bogeys at No. 13, No. 14 and No. 15. Neira Garcia birdied No. 17 and then eagled the par-5, 459-yard No. 18 to get back to even on the day.
"Normally, my rounds don't have a lot of pars," Neira Garcia said. "I'm like double-bogey, eagle, birdie, birdie, bogey. The wind changed all day so it was hard to calculate distances. On 17, I hit a good tee shot within 10 feet and made the putt. On 18, I hit a really good first shot. I thought the wind would help my second shot so I went for it. I had a putt of about 12-15 feet and made it. I'm obviously not used to making eagles, but I was just focused on that hole. Now (after the round) is when I realize that I made an eagle."
No. 10 South Carolina is atop the team leaderboard at 582, followed by No. 2 Alabama at 590, No. 3 Arkansas at 592, the Bulldogs at 596, No. 13 Florida at 599, No. 24 Vanderbilt at 602, No. 20 Auburn at 607, Kentucky at 610, Missouri at 612, Mississippi State at 613, Tennessee at 614, Ole Miss at 621, LSU at 624 and Texas A&M at 627.
The Bulldogs will be paired with No. 13 Florida and No. 24 Vanderbilt on Friday, teeing off in waves from No. 1 between 8:50-9:30 a.m. ET. Live scoring is available at www.golfstat.com.
"It's a Regional mindset but it's also a national championships mindset," Brewer said. "In six weeks, we might find ourselves in this position. We're just trying to win the day. That's our motto. We're going to do the same thing tomorrow. We're not going to approach tomorrow's round any different than we have all year. Yes, that could change over the last three or four holes. That's why you've got to be watching. That's why the conference did this. We have to learn as players and coaches how to make the top-eight, make match play and go through that process."
After Friday's third round of stroke play, the SEC medalist and the match play bracket will be determined. Match play will include the quarterfinals and semifinals on Saturday and the championship on Sunday.
2018 SEC Women's Golf Championships
Greystone Golf & Country Club
Birmingham, Ala.
Par 72; 6253 Yards
Thursday's First-Round Results
Team Leaderboard
South Carolina 291-291=582
Alabama 286-304=590
Arkansas 299-293=592
Georgia 306-290=596
Florida 298-301=599
Vanderbilt 296-306=602
Auburn 306-301=607
Kentucky 309-301=610
Missouri 304-308=612
Mississippi State 308-305=613
Tennessee 310-304=614
Ole Miss 316-305=621
LSU 313-311=624
Texas A&M 312-315=627
Individual Leaderboard
Ainhoa Olarra, South Carolina 70-69=139
Maria Fassi, Arkansas 70-70=140
Dylan Kim, Arkansas 70-73=143
Kristen Gillman, Alabama 69-75=144
Jess Yuen, Missouri 74-71=145
Jillian Hollis, Georgia 75-70=145
Marta Perez, Florida 75-70=145
Sarah Shipley, Kentucky 75-71=146
Cheyenne Knight, Alabama 71-75=146
Kaleigh Telfer, Auburn 75-72=147
Lois Kay Go, South Carolina 72-75=147
Georgia Scores
T16. Rinko Mitsunaga 75-74
T19. Paula Neira Garcia 78-70
T27. Isabella Skinner 78-74
T44. Gabriela Coello 78-78
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Georgia posted a 2-over 290, the low team tally of the day, in Thursday's second round of the SEC Women's Golf Championships at Greystone Golf and Country Club. The Bulldogs vaulted from seventh to fourth on the leaderboard entering Friday's final round of stroke play.
The top-eight teams following 54 holes will advance to a match play bracket to determine the SEC Champion. Georgia is currently 17 strokes off the "cut" to reach match play.
"It's kind of the way we've been all spring," head coach Josh Brewer said. "When we've been up against it, they've responded. They stepped up today and played great from the first tee until the final putt went in."
Thursday marked the first time the Bulldogs have posted the low daily round at the SEC Championships since Georgia opened the 2010 tournament with an 8-under 280.
Jillian Hollis and Paula Neira Garcia led the Bulldogs on Thursday with rounds of 2-under 70 and even-par 72, respectively. Georgia also counted a pair of 74s from Rinko Mitsunaga and Isabella Skinner, while dropping Gabriela Coello's 78.
"Jillian played like the person we've known all spring," Brewer said. "The first day wasn't they way she's played so far this season, but she responded the way a true All-American and National Player of the Year candidate should respond. She had a great round today.
"It's Paula's birthday, so first of all I have to wish her a happy birthday or I'd be a bad coach," Brewer continued. "She gave us a great round. We knew it would come because she has the talent. I'm excited for her. We all know her best golf's coming. Hopefully, this is a round that jump starts her going forward."
Overall, Hollis is tied for fifth at 1-over 145, six shots off the pace of South Carolina's Ainhoa Olarra. In addition, Mitsunaga is tied for 16th at 149, Neira Garcia is tied for 19th at 150, Skinner is tied for 27th at 152 and Coello is tied for 44th at 156.
Hollis, who had her streak of six straight under-par rounds snapped on Wednesday, started her day with six pars before a trio of birdies at No. 6, No. 7 and No. 8 pushed her to 3-under at the turn. She gave a pair of those shots back with bogeys at No. 10 and No. 12, but closed with a birdie at No. 18 to finish at 2-under.
"You've just got to go out there and play some golf," Hollis said. "Yesterday, I put a lot of pressure on myself when I didn't need to. It's golf. You get bad breaks. I got some bad breaks yesterday. I had mud on my ball twice and it caused bogeys. I got some bad kicks. That made a difference. I just put less pressure on myself today."
Neira Garcia's loop was a little more eventful than Hollis'. She turned at 1-over after a bogey at No. 1, a birdie at No. 3, a double-bogey at No. 6 and a birdie at No. 8. She pulled back to even with another birdie at No. 10 but suffered through successive bogeys at No. 13, No. 14 and No. 15. Neira Garcia birdied No. 17 and then eagled the par-5, 459-yard No. 18 to get back to even on the day.
"Normally, my rounds don't have a lot of pars," Neira Garcia said. "I'm like double-bogey, eagle, birdie, birdie, bogey. The wind changed all day so it was hard to calculate distances. On 17, I hit a good tee shot within 10 feet and made the putt. On 18, I hit a really good first shot. I thought the wind would help my second shot so I went for it. I had a putt of about 12-15 feet and made it. I'm obviously not used to making eagles, but I was just focused on that hole. Now (after the round) is when I realize that I made an eagle."
No. 10 South Carolina is atop the team leaderboard at 582, followed by No. 2 Alabama at 590, No. 3 Arkansas at 592, the Bulldogs at 596, No. 13 Florida at 599, No. 24 Vanderbilt at 602, No. 20 Auburn at 607, Kentucky at 610, Missouri at 612, Mississippi State at 613, Tennessee at 614, Ole Miss at 621, LSU at 624 and Texas A&M at 627.
The Bulldogs will be paired with No. 13 Florida and No. 24 Vanderbilt on Friday, teeing off in waves from No. 1 between 8:50-9:30 a.m. ET. Live scoring is available at www.golfstat.com.
"It's a Regional mindset but it's also a national championships mindset," Brewer said. "In six weeks, we might find ourselves in this position. We're just trying to win the day. That's our motto. We're going to do the same thing tomorrow. We're not going to approach tomorrow's round any different than we have all year. Yes, that could change over the last three or four holes. That's why you've got to be watching. That's why the conference did this. We have to learn as players and coaches how to make the top-eight, make match play and go through that process."
After Friday's third round of stroke play, the SEC medalist and the match play bracket will be determined. Match play will include the quarterfinals and semifinals on Saturday and the championship on Sunday.
2018 SEC Women's Golf Championships
Greystone Golf & Country Club
Birmingham, Ala.
Par 72; 6253 Yards
Thursday's First-Round Results
Team Leaderboard
South Carolina 291-291=582
Alabama 286-304=590
Arkansas 299-293=592
Georgia 306-290=596
Florida 298-301=599
Vanderbilt 296-306=602
Auburn 306-301=607
Kentucky 309-301=610
Missouri 304-308=612
Mississippi State 308-305=613
Tennessee 310-304=614
Ole Miss 316-305=621
LSU 313-311=624
Texas A&M 312-315=627
Individual Leaderboard
Ainhoa Olarra, South Carolina 70-69=139
Maria Fassi, Arkansas 70-70=140
Dylan Kim, Arkansas 70-73=143
Kristen Gillman, Alabama 69-75=144
Jess Yuen, Missouri 74-71=145
Jillian Hollis, Georgia 75-70=145
Marta Perez, Florida 75-70=145
Sarah Shipley, Kentucky 75-71=146
Cheyenne Knight, Alabama 71-75=146
Kaleigh Telfer, Auburn 75-72=147
Lois Kay Go, South Carolina 72-75=147
Georgia Scores
T16. Rinko Mitsunaga 75-74
T19. Paula Neira Garcia 78-70
T27. Isabella Skinner 78-74
T44. Gabriela Coello 78-78
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