GOODYEAR, Ariz. – Led by collegiate-best round of even-par 72 from sophomore
Sarah Shea, the Western Washington University women's golf team is off to a solid start at the Palm Valley Classic.
The Vikings turned in a team round of 13-over-par 301 on the par 72, 6005-yard Palm Valley Golf Club. Western is tied for 5
th place in the 20-team tournament that is being hosted by Western New Mexico University.
"The team played really solid today with lots of good to take away from the round," said WWU Director of Golf
Luke Bennett.
Shea (Sequim, WA) is tied for 4
th place in the 107-player field after recording four birdies, four bogeys and 10 pars. She played her final nine holes at 1-under-par, including closing out the round with a birdie on the 365-yard No. 9.
"I am so happy with Sarah's play. Today showed how she can truly play," added Bennett. "It was awesome watching her birdie the last hole to shoot even par."
Two-time defending Great Northwest Athletic Conference Golfer of the Week
Elise Sumner (North Tustin, CA) is tied for 20
th place following her round of 3-over-par 75. Second year freshman
Sophia Schmidt (Bellingham, WA) and transfer
Kolby Heggenes (Clinton, WA/South Whidbey) are tied for 30
th place at 5-over-par 77.
"Great rounds from Elise, Sophia and Kolby to account for a solid team score," said Bennett. "It was great to see Kolby play solid from start to finish."
WWU is part of a tightly-packed top 10 on the leaderboard, with 11 teams within 14 strokes of each other. The University of Texas-Tyler lead the field following an opening-round 6-over-par 294, followed by West Texas A&M and Point Loma tied for 2
nd at 9-over-par 297. WWU and Texas A&M-Commerce are tied for 5
th place, one stroke back of 4
th-place Oklahoma Christian (+12, 300).
Raelynn Hardgrave of UT-Tyler holds the lead for individual medalist following a first-round 3-under-par 69.
The final round tees off Saturday morning to complete the two-day, 36-hole tournament. The live leaderboard can be followed via
WWUVikings.com/WG_Live.
