SUGAR GROVE, Ill. -- A birdie by Hannah Kim on the 18th hole helped give Northwestern the team lead after Friday's first round of the 2017 NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships at Rich Harvest Farms. The Wildcats overcame rainy and windy conditions to post a team total of 301, two strokes ahead of second-place Kent State.
"Our kids did such a good job today of just putting their head down, playing each hole as a team," said Northwestern head coach Emily Fletcher. "We really tried to make sure they were prepared clothing-wise, extra socks, keeping their feet dry … just the little things that we can try and do for them. I'm so proud of their efforts today, they just really kept the golf course in front of them and didn't compound any mistakes and got over things when they did make mistakes."
Northwestern led the field with 56 pars while also posting the best scoring average on the par fours (4.34) and par fives (4.90). Janet Mao was the top finisher for the Wildcats, carding a one-over 73 that included two birdies and an eagle, tied for third overall with Kent State's Karoline Stormo. The top-finisher for the Golden Flashes had two birdies and 13 pars in her opening round.
Purdue's August Kim and Michigan's Elodie Van Dievoet are tied for the individual lead at even-par 72. Kim carded four birdies in Friday's opening round, while also posting an eagle on the par-five second hole, one of three eagles at the second during the first round of play.
"I just did my best to stay present," said Purdue's co-leader Kim. "I knew the conditions were going to be tough all day and I knew everyone would be dealing with the same thing. I tried to just take it shot-by-shot because there are some tough holes out there. I tried to grab birdies when I could, saved pars when I could and even some of the bogeys were good bogeys. It was just a grind."
Van Dievoet recorded three birdies in her opening 18 holes and finished with seven consecutive pars to tie for the first-round lead.
"I hit every green on the back nine which helped a lot," said Van Dievoet. "I made some really good putts that didn't go in, but pars today are really good so I was pretty happy."
The quartet of Monica Vaughn (Arizona State), Hira Naveed (Pepperdine), Katja Pogacar (Ohio State) and Jennifer Kupcho (Wake Forest) round out the top-five tied at two-over 74.
In the team competition, an eight-stroke gap separates second-place Kent State from a group of four schools tied at 311. Baylor and Ohio State set the pace during the morning wave as the Bears and Buckeyes each posted the mark that was matched in the afternoon wave by Arizona State and Stanford.
The Second Round of the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship is scheduled to begin Saturday morning, May 20, at 7:30 a.m. For full results and live scoring of each round, visit NCAA.com.
