No. 1 Razorbacks Top The Leaderboard

Results
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – The top-ranked University of Arkansas women’s golf team came out strong in their second tournament of the season and lead the rain-soaked field after first-round action at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate Presented by 3M in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, on Sunday.

The Razorbacks led by as many as five shots and finished the first of three rounds with a two-stroke lead with an even-par 288 at Olympic Hills Golf Club. Arkansas secured the top spot with under-par rounds from junior Maria Fassi and senior Alana Uriell.

Fassi is the defending champion of the event, and opened with a 2-under 70 (33–37) finishing with an eagle on the final hole. Fassi is tied for third after carding four birdies. She was 4-under through 10 holes on day one.

Uriell made the turn even and added her second of three birdies on No. 10. She is 1-under and tied for seventh shooting 71 (36–35).

Razorback newcomer Dylan Kim is 1-over with a 73 (37–36) and tied for 14th overall. Junior Cara Gorlei is one stroke back and tied for 14th shooting 74 (37–37) and junior Kaylee Benton is tied for 29th with a first-round 76 (37–39).

Arkansas sprung to the top of the Golfweek.com rankings after a 41-under win in the season opener at the Mason Rudolph Championship. Fassi tied for the win in that event with top-5 finishes from Uriell and Kim.

This week’s invitation-only field is one of the toughest of the season and features nine teams who finished in the top-15 a year ago. Southeastern Conference member No. 11 South Carolina is second shooting 291. Sixteenth-ranked Stanford finished six off the lead in third place shooting 294 followed by UCLA with 295 and No. 5 Southern California rounding out the top five in fifth with 299.

From Coach Taylor
“I’m proud of our team’s effort today. We had temperatures around 55 degrees, it was blowing about 20 miles an hour and it was rainy so the conditions were difficult. We did a great job of staying patient. It is about putting yourself in a position to accomplish your goals and I think we did that. Tomorrow is going to be more of the same in terms of the weather so we will have to come out and execute our game plan. This championship golf course requires a lot of thinking and remaining patient. I’m really proud of Maria (Fassi) who eagled the last hole to shoot 2-under. It was a great day by Alana (Uriell) who bogeyed her first hole and came back to shoot 1-under. Dylan (Kim) was 3-over through five and came back to finish strong and Cara (Gorlei) just kind of battled all day as did Kaylee (Benton). I’m really proud of their fight and we are looking forward to the next two days.”

Up Next
The Razorbacks continue play at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate presented by 3M on Monday and Tuesday. The ANNIKA is the second of four fall events for the Razorbacks with Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational on Oct. 14-17 and the Maryb S. Kauth Alamo Invitational on Oct. 22-24 rounding out the first half of the year.

More Information
Keep up with all of the latest news and information and get behind the scenes looks into our program on our social media accounts. Follow us on Twitter at @RazorbackWGolf and check out our Facebook page “Razorback Women’s Golf.” Stats, news and player information can be found at RazorbackWGolf.com.

Arkansas Individuals

The Field