Lady'Back Linksters looking for magic as match play continues

Jump toresults FAYETTEVILLE – The eighth-ranked University of Arkansas women’s golf team defeated Furman and had their second match suspended due to darkness at the 2005 Hooters Match Play Championship at Howie-In-The-Hills, Fla., Friday. Arkansas entered the invitational-only, 16-team as the third seed and dispatched of No. 14 Furman winning four of the five matches. The win sent Arkansas into the second round where they met sixth-seed Texas A&M. A pair of Lady’Backs are up in their matches, a pair are trailing and one was all square when the contests were suspended because of darkness. Play resumes at 9:00 a.m., Central Saturday in the elimination match. “We need a little magic,” said Arkansas head coach Kelley Hester. “We haven’t been sharp all day. We played to the level of our competition in the first match and we’ve had some struggles today.” Senior Courtney Mahon posted a convincing win over Connor Atkinson of Furman winning by four strokes with two holes to play. The Topeka, Kan., native led the round from the first hole of the morning’s competition. Senior Amanda McCurdy and sophomore Stacy Lewis both won three-and-two with McCurdy downing Furman’s Theresa Paik. The El Dorado, Ark., native was up by as many as five early in the round but a late run by Paik closed the gap down the stretch. Lewis defeated Monique Gesualdi playing the Lady Paladin all square through the first nine holes before getting a little breathing room after the turn. Sophomore Ashley Medders also won her match over Blair Lamb, going one up on the 15th hole and hanging on. Senior Sarah Trew suffered the team’s lone loss, three-and-two, to Katleen Ekey. Arkansas moved on to the second round facing Texas A&M who defeated Florida 3-2. McCurdy finds herself up two with three holes to play over A&M’s Brenda Norris while Mahon is leading Lauren Johnson by one with four holes to play. Lewis and freshman Lucy Nunn are both one down with three holes to play while Medders has lost to Christa Spedding four-and-three. “The conditions are great,” said Hester. “The wind picked up a big in the afternoon but the course is in great shape. We are capable of pulling this out but we need some solid play Saturday.” The winner of the Arkansas/Texas A&M match faces the winner of Stanford/Purdue as play continues. For more information about Arkansas women’s golf, please log on to LADYBACKS.COM.