Tubert paces Arkansas in Athens

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Results

Results

ATHENS, Ga. – University of Arkansas sophomore Emily Tubert fired an even par 72 leading the No. 37 Razorbacks to a tie for 15th place after first round action of the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic in Athens, Ga., Friday.

Tubert, a Burbank, Calif., native is tied for 16th overall after guiding the Razorbacks to a first-round 305.  She opened on the first hole of the UGA Golf Course and birdied to start.  Tubert followed with a pair of bogeys a birdie on the fourth hole moving to even.

Tubert would remain even through the 11th hole when she went birdie, bogey, birdie falling to one under but she gave the stroke back on the 16th to finish even.

“Emily is right where she needs to be,” Arkansas head coach Shauna Estes-Taylor said.  “She needs to continue to work hard on the par fives and take advantage of her length.”

Redshirt sophomore Emma Lavy and junior Victoria Vela turned in rounds of five-over 77s and are tied for 61st in the field.  Freshman Hally Leadbetter finished with a 79 and is tied for 77th and redshirt sophomore Emily Podzielinski is tied for 87th with an 81.

“We came out and played really tentative today,” said Estes-Taylor.  “It was a bit of a surprise because we prepared well and were ready to play.  We just didn’t execute our game plan very well.”

Second-ranked Alabama leads the field with a 10-under 278 in the first round.  Host and No. 9 Georgia is second with 284 followed by No. 27 South Carolina with 285, No. 17 Florida with 286, No. 30 Virginia with 287 and No. 49 Kent State and No. 33 Purdue tied for sixth with 293.  The rest of the field includes No. 28 Florida State, No. 24 Oklahoma and No. 25 Michigan State tied for eighth with 296, No. 4 Auburn with 297, Notre Dame in 12th with 301, No. 47 Wake Forest with 302, No. 38 Denver with 303, Missouri and Arkansas tied for 15th with 305, Georgia’s B team with 308 and Augusta State in 18th with 311.

“We have to com e out tomorrow, dig deep and trust our preparation,” Estes-Taylor said.  “We have to rally and rally hard.  This is a tough field but if we can put together some good golf we can make a move.  The par fives are very scoreable.  It’s all about placement to get it up and down and today we didn’t put the ball where we could do that.  We have to dissect the golf course and we have to have ball control or we will have some tough putts and tough up and downs.

Play continues through Sunday.