The following is a press release courtsey of Iowa State athletics communications.
TULSA, Okla. – The No. 23 Iowa State women’s golf team battled strong winds en route to a first-round 306 Tuesday at the 2014 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Wind gusts up to 35 miles an hour caused problems for the field, inflating many of the scores. The Cyclones are currently in 22nd place in the national tournament. Oklahoma is the first-round leader at 288.
Iowa State head coach Christie Martens was hoping for better first-round scores in ISU’s first-ever appearance in the NCAA finals, but she knows there are plenty of holes left in the tournament.
“We played pretty well on the front nine,” Martens said. “We held it together and grinded it out. We started the back nine out well, but then we gave back some shots at the end of our round, which was disappointing to see. We were right in it, but we had too many big numbers. At the same time, we competed well and there is still a lot of golf to play.”
Chonlada Chayanun was the pacesetter for the Cyclones in the first round. The junior didn’t have a blemish on her card until bogeying the par-3 13th hole. She ended the day at +2 (72) to sit in a tie for 14th in the medalist race.
“It was very windy today and you have to realize that not many people are going to play well today,” Chayanun said. “I was just trying to get it on the green and have a couple of putts. I was trying to not go after the pins because they were in tough spots, so I was concentrating on going to the middle of the green and just make putts.”
Martens was pleased with the play of Chayanun.
“She was awesome. She played really well today,” Martens said. “She made a lot of great putts and a lot of great saves. She just grinded the whole time out there.”
Freshman Carmen Vidau, who is currently tied for 54th, rallied to shoot a 76. Vidau started the back nine with a birdie on No. 10 and finished strong with a 35 on the back side.
Sophomore Cajsa Persson carded a 77 to sit in a tie for 70th. Persson was one of three Cyclones to birdie No. 2. Seniors Sasikarn On-iam and Prima Thammaraks shot a pair of 81s to round out ISU’s scoring.
Iowa State will begin play in the second round tomorrow with tee-time slots from 12:56-1:40 p.m. CT.
Team Scores
1. Oklahoma 288
2. UCLA 291
3. USC 293
Arizona State 293
Duke 293
6. California 296
7. Arizona 298
8. Washington
Ohio State 299
10. Stanford 300
11. South Carolina 301
12. Mississippi State 302
13. Tulane 303
Vanderbilt 303
Virginia 303
16. Alabama 305
Florida 305
Texas A&M 305
Campbell 305
Michigan State 305
Northwestern 305
22. Iowa State 306
23. N.C. State 307
24. Kansas 313
Iowa State Scores
T14. Chonlada Chayanun 72
T54. Carmen Vidau 76
T70. Cajsa Persson 77
T111. Sasikarn On-iam 81
T111. Prima Thammaraks 81
Top Individuals
1. Doris Chen, USC 67
2. Tonje Daffinrud, Denver 67
3. Lauren Kim, Stanford 67
