STILLWATER, Okla. (seminoles.com) – Senior Morgane Metraux shot a 70 and is in a tie for fourth place in the individual standings, and the Florida State women’s golf team is in a tie for seventh place in the team standings after the first round of the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships at the Karsten Creek Golf Club. Metraux is only five strokes behind the individual leader as she tied her career-best for a single round score in three career NCAA Championship appearances. The Seminoles need to finish in the top 15 of the team standings after three rounds to advance to the fourth round. Following the fourth round of play, the field will be cut to eight with those teams competing in match play to decide to the 2018 National Champion.
No. 6 Southern California, which has three players in the top 20 of the individual standings and holds a one stroke lead over No. 1 Alabama in the team standings. No. 3 UCLA is three strokes behind their cross-town rival. Jennifer Kupcho of Wake Forest holds the individual lead after the first round of play as she carded a 7 under par score of 65.
“Round one is in the books and I think our players hung in there today pretty well today,” said Head Coach Amy Bond. “By the end of the day, I feel like we will be in a pretty good position moving forward. This is a tough course and the wind blew pretty good today. We have to manage the course and the predicted wind tomorrow to put together a good round.”
Florida State’s three leading golfers in the first round – Morgane Metraux, Kim Metraux and Amanda Doherty – combined to finish a cumulative total of three strokes under par on the back nine. The trio totaled six birdies and only two holes scored over par after making the turn as the Seminoles finished strong over the course of the first 18 holes of the national championship tournament.
Morgane Metraux (Lausanne, Switzerland) was nearly flawless as she carded 17 of 18 holes at or below par with three birdies. She finished her round at three under par with three birdies on her final 12 holes of the round. Metraux was never more than one stoke over par and finished the round as one of 10 players in the 132 player field to finish the round under par and one of only six players who finished at least two strokes or better under par.
“On this course, it is key to hit the fairways because the rough is so high and so thick,” said Metraux. “I feel like I did a good job of hitting the fairways today. Also, the greens are tricky and very fast below the hole which allowed me to be a bit more aggressive on my birdie putts. My irons were the best part of my game and gave me a lot of opportunities to score today. I limited my mistakes and that was illustrated with only one bogey.”
Metraux, who finished in a tie for fourth in the individual standings in last week’s NCAA Tallahassee Regional Championship, has now carded six consecutive rounds at 72 or better and has not finished with a score above 73 since the third round of the Evans Derby Experience on March 20. Her score of 70 tied her career low for an NCAA Championship Finals round which also came in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Finals. Metraux has now carded four of seven rounds at par or better in NCAA Finals competition.
Kim Metraux (Lausanne Switzerland), who is playing in the NCAA Championship Finals for the third time in her career, carded a 1 over par 73 and is in a tie for 19th in the individual standings. She, too, played strong golf with a team-high tying three birdies and 15 holes played at par or better. Metraux was even par over her final 17 holes with two birdies and two bogies.
Metraux’s score of 73 is her best in seven career NCAA Championship Finals rounds and is her fifth overall score of 73 or better. She carded two scores of 73 in the first and third rounds of the NCAA Tallahassee Regional and has carded scores of 73 or better in seven of her last eight rounds. Metraux was one of three Seminoles with multiple birdies during the round.
Sophomore Amanda Doherty (Atlanta, Ga.), who earned All-ACC honors for the first time in her career earlier this month, is in a tie for 28th place as she carded a 2 over par score of 74. She played her best golf late with three birdies on her final 12 holes and two birdies on her final seven holes. Doherty was 1 under par on her back nine with two birdies and eight holes scored at par or better.
“We are just where we want to be going into tomorrow,” said Morgane Metraux. “We will have a good look and getting into the top eight by Monday night.”
The Seminoles will once again play with Auburn and Oklahoma in the second round but will tee off in the second wave of teams beginning at 1:15 (ET) on Saturday.
FLORIDA STATE NOTES: Florida State is participating in the NCAA Championships for the 10th time in school history…the Seminoles finished in 14th place in 1991; 14th place in 1992; 18thplace in 1994; 13th place in 1999; 19th place in 2003; 19th place in 2004; 16th place in 2006; a school-best 10th place in 2010; 15th place in 2016 and tied for 20th in 2017…the Seminoles won the 1981 A.I.A.W National Championship with a three-stroke victory over Georgia on the University of Georgia Golf Course in 1981…Seminole head coach Amy Bond has been a member of seven of Florida State’s 10 NCAA Championship Finals teams (1999 as a player; 2004, 2004, 2006 as an assistant coach; 2016, 2017, 2018 as its head coach)…Bond was Florida State’s leader in in 1999 and helped the Seminoles to a 13th place finish with scores of 75-75-81=321…She played on a Florida State team that included Erica Iding, Louise Wright, Amy Spooner and Sarah Capie in the 1999 NCAA Championship Finals…the lowest single round score in an NCAA Championship Finals round is 69 by Caroline Westrup (in 2007, twice) and Jessica Negron (in 2010)…Westrup holds Florida State’s all-time record for highest finish in the NCAA Championship Finals with a tied for fifth place finish in the individual standings at the 2007 event…Westrup played in a school-record four NCAA Championship Finals (2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009)…Morgane Metraux was Florida State’s leading finisher in 2016 as she finished in a tied for 20th place in the individual standings…the last time a Seminole carded a hole-in-one in NCAA (regional or finals) play was Alison Curdt during the second round of the NCAA Central Regional Championship on May 10, 2002 at Michigan State…the last time a Seminole carded an eagle in NCAA Championships (Finals) play was Morgane Metraux in the second round of the 2016 NCAA Championships on May 21, 2016…the eagle for Metraux is one of nine in her career as a Seminole.
NCAA Championship Finals/Par 72/May 18-23, 2018
Karsten Creek Golf Club/Stillwater, Okla./First Round Florida State Results
T7/24-Florida State, 310
T4-Morgane Metraux, 70
T19-Kim Metraux, 73
T28-Amanda Doherty, 74
T122-Kathleen Sumner, 84
T122-Kayla Jones, 84
NCAA Championship Finals/Par 72/May 18-23, 2018
Karsten Creek Golf Club/Stillwater, Okla./First Round Team Results
1-Southern Cal, 291
2-Alabama, 292
3-UCLA, 294
4-Kent State, 296
5-Duke, 298
6-Northwestern, 299
T7-Florida State, 301
T7-Arizona, 301
T7-Louisville, 301
T10-Florida, 303
T10-Washington, 303
12-Auburn, 304
T13-Colorado, 306
T13-Wake Forest, 306
15-Oklahoma, 307
T16-Stanford, 308
T16-Arkansas, 308
18-Texas, 309
19- Ohio State, 310
20-Furman, 311
21-Baylor, 313
22-Arizona State, 314
23-Virginia, 315
24-Ole Miss, 320
