JOHN'S ISLAND, S.C. – The Penn State women's golf team is currently sixth in the 16-team field at the Briar's Creek Invitational following 36 holes on Monday at the Golf Club at Briar's Creek. The Nittany Lions fired rounds of 1-over, 289, and even-par, 288, to open the tournament.
"I loved the fact that we had contributions up and down the lineup today," commented head coach Denise St. Pierre. "We have some holes we need to improve on as a group that we will review and rethink our plan for tomorrow's final round."
UCF paces the field at 16-under, three strokes clear of SMU at 13-under. Illinois (7-under), Maryland (4-under) and College of Charleston (even-par) round out the top-5 ahead of Penn State. The Nittany Lions (1-over) are five strokes clear of Nebraska in seventh.
Senior Sarah Willis (Eaton, Ohio) paced the Nittany Lions over the opening 36 holes and is currently tied for eighth at 4-under after carding rounds of 71 and 69 on Monday. Willis began the day with a bogey on her opening hole, however, over the next 35 holes she registered a team-best eight birdies with just a single bogey and single double-bogey on the card.
"I was able to make a lot of really good par saves as well as sinking a few birdie putts on top of that," mentioned Willis. "I just kept the ball in play and let my putter do the rest, it felt really good being back in red numbers."
Senior Taylor Waller (Canonsburg, Pa.) came out of the gates strong on Monday carding a career-best 2-under, 70, backed by a clean 3-under, 33, on the back nine, her first nine of the day. The senior gave a few shots back at the turn, but closed out the round 2-under over her final eight holes. Waller carded 76 in the second round and is currently tied for 30th at 2-over entering Tuesday's final round.
"I was playing freely with a more fun demeanor today especially during that opening round," stated Waller. "As a team we recently talked about continuing to strive to be under par, so when I was one or two under, I was still focusing on playing my game and not being too conservative and that allowed me to continue to register birdies on the card."
Senior Mathilde Delavallade (Royan, France) is currently tied for 23rd after rounds of 72 and 73 on Monday.
Senior Isha Dhruva (Katy, Texas) shaved six strokes of her score between rounds ending the second round with a 1-under, 71, which included an eagle on the seventh hole. Dhruva climbed 25 spots between rounds and is currently tied for 43rd.
Sophomore classmates Drew Nienhaus (St. Louis, Mo.) and Michelle Cox (Allentown, Pa.) round out the scoring at 7-over and 9-over, respectively.
The Nittany Lions are back on the course bright and early tomorrow to close out the tournament with an 8:45 a.m. shotgun start.
Results for rounds 1 & 2 available HERE.
