Don Tied for First in Medinah

Monday, October 9

Medinah Country Club / Medinah, Ill.

All Day

University of Georgia

3rd (292-279=571)

Illini Invitational - Day 1

October 09, 2023 | Women's Golf

MEDINAH, Ill. – The No. 22-ranked Georgia women's golf team carded a 5-under 571 in the first two rounds of the Illini Invitational on Monday. The Bulldogs are in third place on the team leaderboard. Fifth-year senior Caterina Don leads the Bulldogs tied for first place at a 5-under 139.

"A very solid day for the team," head coach Josh Brewer said. "In the final group for us, which is top three in the tournament. It was a very good start. It is fun to see them rewarded for working so hard and having a lot of success."

Georgia posted a 4-over 292 in the first round to tie for seventh place going into the afternoon. The Bulldogs recorded a 9-under 279 in the second, their seventh par-or-better team round of the fall.

In the first round, Georgia had two under-par performances from junior LoraLie Cowart and Don, who posted a 2-under 70 and a 1-under 71, respectively. Cowart led the individual leaderboard for the Bulldogs tied for fifth place after the morning round.

Don jumped 11 spots on the individual leaderboard to a four-way tie with San Diego State's Darae Chung and LSU's Latanna Stone and Ingrid Lindblad. Five birdies and an eagle on No. 5 powered Don's 4-under 68 second round.

"(Don) is back to playing the way she was three or four years ago, her freshman year," Brewer said. "She was one of the best players in the world. I think she is finally healthy, confident and having fun. It is nice to see her rewarded for sticking with it and getting through some tough times to enjoy playing golf again."

Overall, Cowart is tied for fifth at 4-under 140, one stroke off Don in the lead. Isabella Holpfer sits tied for 36th at 146, Napat Lertsadwatanna is tied for 38th and one stroke behind at 147. Kate Song rounds out the leaderboard for the Bulldogs tied for 61st at 151.

No. 13 LSU leads the team field at 14-under 562, six strokes ahead of Northwestern. Rounding out the top-10 teams are Georgia at 5-under, No. 8 Ole Miss at 3-under, No. 11 San Jose State and SMU at 2-under, Ohio State at 1-under, Oklahoma State and Alabama at 1-over and No. 20 Houston at 6-over.

"I'd like to have the second round again tomorrow," Brewer said. "You hope you get hot a little bit, put some pressure on the leaders and find yourself in a position to win. In our sport, you are just trying to get better tomorrow and get ready for our next event. It is fun to be in contention with a chance to win."

Georgia will be paired with LSU and Northwestern for the final round tomorrow. The groups will begin at 10 a.m. ET with a shotgun start.

Illini Invitational
Medinah Country Club
Medinah, Ill.
Par 72; 6166 Yards

Monday's Second-Round Standings

Team Leaderboard
LSU      275-287=562
Northwestern     291-277=568
Georgia   292-279=571
Ole Mis   284-289=573
San Jose State 288-286=574
SMU   297-277=574
Ohio State   288-287=575
Oklahoma State 294-286=580
Alabama      299-281=580
Houston        290-292=582
Illinoi   292-299=591
Oklahoma              290-294=593
TCU             300-297=597
Texas Tech   293-305=598
UNCW         301-302=603

Individual Leaderboard
Caterina Don, Georgia   71-68=139
Darae Chung, San Jose State   70-69=139
Latanna Stone, LSU     69-70=139
Ingrid Lindblad, LSU   67-72=139
LoraLie Cowart, Georgia 70-70=140
Elle Szeryk, SMU             72-68=140
Isabel Sy, Illinoi 70-70=140
Dianna Lee, Northwestern       71-70=141
Faith Choi, Ohio Stat 70-71=141
Tessa Kresmer, San Jose State  67-74=141

Additional Georgia Scores
T36 Isabella Holpfer 76-70=146
T38 Napat Lertsadwatanna   76-71=147
T61 Kate Song          75-76=151