EUGENE, Ore. (seminoles.com) – Sophomore Morgane Metraux is in a tie for 11th place in the individual standings and the No. 16 Seminole women’s golf team is in a tie for 12th place in the team standings after the first round of the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships at the Eugene Country Club. Metraux finished her round with three consecutive birdies to card a 2-under par score of 70 – and begins play in Saturday’s second round only two strokes out of the individual lead.
No. 8 Oklahoma State assumed the lead late in the round and is in first place in the team standings with a two stroke lead over No. 3 UCLA heading into the second round. Florida State is only 11 strokes behind Oklahoma State and nine strokes behind UCLA. Haley Moore of Arizona and August Kim of Purdue are tie for first in the individual standings. Both players carded identical scores of 68.
Following the first three rounds of stoke play (Friday, Saturday, Sunday), the field will be trimmed from 24 teams to 15. On Monday, the field will again be cut to eight teams and the top ranking player will win the national championship. The top eight teams (following play on Monday) will then engage in three rounds of match play to determine the national champion.
“For most of our girls, who are all playing in their first national championship, they had a little case of the nerves in the beginning and didn’t get off to the best of starts,” head coach Amy Bond said. “When we became comfortable, we did a good job of battling back. For us, day one is in the books and we are looking forward to our afternoon round tomorrow. It’s a long tournament and we simply need to stay patient.”
The Seminoles started the first round on hole No. 10 and were a cumulative total of five strokes over par before making the turn. Once they grew comfortable, they played their back nine at only two over par with a combined total of six birdies. The Seminoles’ team score of 295 was their best since the third round of the 2016 ACC Championships.
With a team-leading five birdies, Metraux (Lausanne, Switzerland) carded her third round of 70 this spring. She carded 16 holes at par or better and was never more than one stroke over par during her round. Metraux’s closing sequence of three consecutive birdies allowed her to move from 1 stroke over par after 15 holes to two strokes under par at the conclusion of her round. Metraux came within one stroke of tying Florida State’s all-time single round school record in the NCAA Championship Finals.
“Today, I kept my ball in play with my long game and my short game made the difference for me,” said Metraux. “My putting was really good and I managed to get the ball up and down when I needed to. I fought back after my double (on hole No. 2) and was thrilled with my finish. I’m proud of our team for fighting back like we did. We came back at the end and I’m sure we will keep that momentum going into tomorrow.”
Metraux has quite a history of playing well in NCAA championship events. She averages 73.71 strokes in seven NCAA rounds (six in the 2015 NCAA San Antonio Regional and 2016 Shoal Creek Regional Championships and one in the 2016 NCAA Championship Finals). She has carded three of her four NCAA rounds under par with a 68 (in the first round of the 2015 NCAA San Antonio Regional Championship) and three scores of 70 including Friday’s first round.
“Morgane played a great round of golf today,” Bond said. “She was able to recover after a bad 11th hole (No. 2) to finish with three consecutive birdies. She managed her game well and made the putts when she needed to.”
Florida State counted three scores of 75 – from juniors Matilda Castren and Lydia Gumm and sophomore Kayla Jones.
Castren (Espoo, Finland) finished with her first round score of 75 with three birdies and 11 holes scored at par or better. Castren closed her round at 1 under par on her final holes and was only 1 over par on her final nine holes of the round.
Gumm (Radcliff, Ky.) also carded a first round score of 75 with 15 of her 18 holes scored at par. She went a stretch of six consecutive holes on her from nine with scores of all par and closed her round with five consecutive holes scored at par.
“Today was very exciting,” Gumm said. “I was a little nervous at first but it was a great feeling on the first tee."
Jones (Milton, Ga.) played a consistent round with two birdies and 13 holes played at par or better. Following a bogey in her first hole of the round she was a total of only 1 over par over the course of her final 17 holes.
Florida State will play the second round of the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship on Saturday in the afternoon wave – playing with Virginia and South Carolina for the second consecutive day. The trio of teams are scheduled to tee off beginning at 12 Noon PT off of tee No. 1.
NOTES: The lowest single round score in an NCAA Championship finals round by a Seminole player is a 69 by Jessica Negron in the first round of the 2010 finals at the Country Club of Landfall in Wilmington, N.C. on May 18, 2010…Florida State counted four scores at 75 or better for its team score in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Championships finals for only the second time in school history…the Seminoles counted scores of 71 (Jessica Negron), 74 (Maria Salinas), 74 (Macarena Silva) and 75 (Hannah Thomson) in the third round of the 2010 NCAA Championship Finals in Wilmington, N.C.…the five Seminoles who are playing in the 2016 NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship earned a combined 3.694 GPA during the spring of 2016…Seminole All-American Karen Stupples (All-America 2nd Team in 1995) is a member of the television crew for Golf Channel which will begin its television coverage of the event on Monday (May 23)…Florida State is one of 12 schools with both its’ men’s and women’s teams having qualified for the NCAA Championships – both of which will be held at the Eugene Country Club…Seminole head coach Amy Bond has now played in both the NCAA Championship Finals (1999) and coached in the NCAA Championship Finals (2016)… she is one of 14 coaches at the 2016 NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships who has played and coached in the event…Bond finished in a tie for 35th place at the 1999 NCAA Championships with scores of 75-75-80 for a team-leading three round total of 231…
NCAA Championship Finals/Par 72/May 20-25, 2016
Eugene Country Club/Eugene, Ore./First Round Florida State Results
T12/24-Florida State, 295
T11-Morgane Metraux, 70
T69-Lydia Gumm, 75
T69-Kayla Jones, 75
T69-Matilda Castren, 75
T122-Kim Metraux, 79
NCAA Championship Finals/Par 72/May 20-25, 2016
Eugene Country Club/Eugene, Ore./First Round Team Results
1-Oklahoma State, 284
2-UCLA, 286
T3-Washington, 289
T3-Southern California, 289
5-Arizona, 291
T6-Northwestern, 292
T6-Arkansas, 292
T8-Virginia, 293
T8-Ohio State, 293
T8-South Carolina, 293
11-Brigham Young, 294
T12-Florida State, 295
T12-Stanford, 295
14-Michigan, 296
T15-Tennessee, 297
T15-Florida, 297
T15-Oregon, 297
T18-North Carolina, 298
T18-Furman, 298
T18-Georgia, 298
T21-Miami, 299
T21-Duke, 299
23-Alabama, 300
24-Texas, 301
--seminoles.com--
