HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The Georgia women’s golf team turned in a spectacular opening round at The Robbie on Friday and stand atop the team and individual leaderboards. Led by Maria Garcia’s 3-under 69, the Bulldogs shot 5-under 283 as a team to garner a 10-shot lead at the Robert Trent Jones Trail at Hampton Cove course.
Five Fast Facts
• Georgia dominates the individual leaderboard. There were six par-or-better rounds posted by the 62 golfers in the field on Friday. Four of those were by Bulldogs. After Garcia’s bogey-free loop, Karoline Tuttle is tied for 3rd at 2-under 70 and Celine Brovold Sanne and Sydney Givens are both tied for 5th at even-par.
• Georgia’s 5-under effort was its best of round the season, improving on a 4-under tally in the final day of the Schooner Fall Classic.
• The Bulldogs’ blistered the RTJ Golf Trail at Hampton Cove layout early, covering the first six holes at 7-under as a team. Brovold Sanne led the way at 3-under, followed by Garcia at 2-under and Givens and Tuttle both at 1-under.
• Tuttle’s loop was the low score of her collegiate career, besting a trio of even-par efforts during her freshman and sophomore seasons at Florida.
• Friday marked the second straight tournament that Georgia topped the team and individual leaderboards following the opening round. At the Evie Odom Invitational, Maria Eidhagen Harrouch’s 2-under 68 led the Bulldogs to a 285 in round one.
Notable Quotes
Head Coach Erika Brennan:
“It was a great opening round today for the Dogs. To shoot 5-under par is absolutely awesome. To get our four counting scores at par-or-better is something that we knew we were capable of but to connect the dots was awesome. A bogey-free 69 out of Marcia was so good for her, especially in the first round. ‘KT’s’ game is coming on strong so for her to shoot 2-under is absolutely awesome. There’s more to be revealed and we need to keep our foot on the gas, but it was a great start.”
Sophomore Maria Garcia:
“It feels good, more because I’ve been struggling with my first rounds. Actually having a good first round – bogey free – feels nice. I would say my irons were my strength today. That’s not usually, but today they were good.”
Up Next:
The Bulldogs will continue play in The Robbie through Saturday. Georgia will be paired with Tennessee Tech and Morehead State for Saturday’s second round. Live scoring for the tournament can be found here.
