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PALM DESERT, Calif. – The Carleton women’s golf team went toe-to-toe with 13 of the top 25 teams in this week’s Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) rankings on Saturday at the NCAA Preview, hosted by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Desert Willow Golf Resort. The Knights sit eighth after the opening round, on the heels of four of the top five teams in the country.
Carleton came out on fire through the opening nine holes. The Knights were a collective two-under-par at the turn, led by senior Cynthia Lu, who carded a blistering four-under-par 32 on the front side. As a team, the Maize and Blue finished just eight-over-par with a stroke total of 296. They sit 15 shots behind second-ranked Carnegie Mellon, who shot an unprecedented seven-under par (281) as a team to lead the tournament heading into Sunday’s second round.
Senior Carter Sichol led the way for the Knights. Sichol put together a clean card coming in with a two-under 34 on the back nine to give her a one-under 71 for the round. She totaled three birdies on the day, including back-to-back on the par-four 11th and 12th holes. Sichol is currently ninth on the individual leaderboard heading into Sunday’s final round.
Cynthia Lu came out on fire to open the day. The senior carded three straight birdies to jumpstart her round. She added one more birdie in what was a perfect front nine as she made the turn with a four-under-par 32. The back nine brought adversity for the Redmond, Wash., native, who carded one more birdie to bring her total to five on the day. She finished the round with a six-over 42 on the back nine to give her a two-over par 74 for the day to place her 27th overall.
Junior Minday Zhai followed Lu with a three-over par 75. After bogeying the par-four fourth hole, Zhai came right back to birdie the par-three third and the par-four sixth to make the turn at one-under (35). Four bogeys on the back nine gave her the three-over 75 and a share of 33rd heading into Sunday.
Sophomore Anna Lee, who is competing as an individual this weekend, also posted a three-over-par 75 on Saturday and is tied with Zhai and others for 33rd. A consistent card showed one birdie and four bogeys with 13 pars for the Vernon Hills, Ill., native.
Senior Sarah Zheng followed with a four-over-par 76 thanks to matching scores of 38 on both the front and back to place her in a tie for 44th. First-year Kate Yi turned in the best round of her young collegiate career with a six-over-par 78.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will be back in action again tomorrow in the final round of the NCAA Preview. The Knights are scheduled to tee off at 10am local time.
