East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State’s women’s golf team shot a 12-over par 372 and is in fourth place among four teams after the first round of stroke play at the St Andrews Links Collegiate, played on the Jubilee Course in St Andrews, Scotland.
Michigan State is one of four schools competing in the three-day tournament, with the first two rounds (stroke play) at the Jubilee Course and on Wednesday, Oct. 15 at the Old Course, where the game began centuries ago. The teams will play six players (rather than five as in most college tournaments), with the best five scores counting toward the team total in stroke play on Monday and Tuesday.
The Spartans have two golfers among the top-10 overall to finish at 12-over par 372. Princeton and Cal are tied for the team lead at even-par 360, while the University of St Andrews is in third place at 6-over par 366.
Senior Taylor Kehoe is the leader for the Spartans, shooting a 1-under par 71 to stand in seventh place. She finished her round with four birdies, tied for sixth in the field, and 11 pars.
Classmate Paula Balanzategui, who had three birdies in the opening round, is tied for eighth place at even-par 72. She is tied for third in the field with an average score of 4.5 on par-5 holes.
Fellow senior Shannon Kennedy shot a 3-over par 75 and is in 15th place, while junior Ana Sofia Murcia is tied for 16th place at 4-over par 76.
Freshman Lucia Valderrama and sophomore Grace Vetter are tied for 19th place with scores of 6-over par 78, respectively.
The Spartans tee off at 4:30 a.m. (ET) on Tuesday (9:30 a.m. GMT).
Wednesday’s Medal Match Play will feature the top two teams in the Championship Match at the Old Course. The third seed will play the fourth seed in the Consolation Match. Monday and Tuesday scores from the stoke play portion of the event will be combined to determine seeding to Wednesday’s Match Play.
The St Andrews Links Collegiate will be broadcast live on The Golf Channel throughout the week, as well as Sky Sports in the United Kingdom. Live coverage will air from 9 a.m. to noon (ET), with replays each day.
