Vandermade tied for eighth after first round of Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown
Oct. 27, 2008 BOULDER CITY, Nev. -- University of Texas freshman Nicole Vandermade (69, -3) fired an opening-round 3-under-par 69 at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown to finish day one tied for eighth place. As a team, the Longhorns (288, E) are also tied for eighth place on the leaderboard after 18 holes of action at the Boulder Creek Golf Club. En route to her collegiate career-low round, Vandermade found four birdie opportunities on the par-72, 6,265-yard Boulder Creek Golf Club to counter a lone bogey. Vandermade's red numbers came on the third, ninth, 11th and 13th holes, and her only blemish occurred on the par-3 eighth hole. To date, the Brantford, Ontario, native has collected three top-25 finishes in as many events and leads the Longhorns with a 73.6 scoring average through the fall schedule. With an even-par 72, senior Kelley Louth also fired her best round of the season and is three strokes behind Vandermade in a tie for 26th place. After opening her round with bogeys on the first and third holes, Louth made a final bogey on the 11th hole before staging a comeback with back-to-back birdies on holes 12 and 13 and a final birdie on the 16th hole to save par for her round. Junior Shannon Fish carded a 1-over 73 to stand tied for 36th place, while senior Kristin Wall finished the day tied for 52nd at 2-over 74. Senior Caney Hines is tied for 67th at 4-over 76. Louisville and Pepperdine top the leaderboard at 8-under 280, while host UNLV and Oklahoma State are tied for third place at 6-under 282. Texas Tech (283) rounds out the top-five teams at 5-under. On the individual leaderboard, Long Beach State 's Lee Lopez (64, -8) holds a three-stroke lead over a trio of players tied for second place at 5-under 67.
Tuesday's second round begins at 9:30 a.m. Central time when Texas tees off in the first five groups with Washington and Idaho. 2008 Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown POST-ROUND QUOTES The good news is we shot a good number. The better news is we are capable of more. You can't come out here on a course like this and try to shoot a good number, though. You have to let it come naturally, and we're getting closer to that break through. On the play of freshman Nicole Vandermade and senior Kelley Louth: Nicole and Kelley both played well today, just really steady all day. Kelley, in particular, was hitting fairways and greens all day, and that sets up for a few easy birdies. |
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