Coughlin Tied for First After Opening Round at Rucker

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March 4, 2016

Hilton Head, S.C. – The Virginia women’s golf team is in second place following Friday’s opening round of play at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate in Hilton Head, S.C. Behind the stellar play of senior Lauren Coughlin (Chesapeake, Va.), the Cavaliers shot 3-under 281 and trail No. 4 Alabama at the top of the leaderboard by three strokes.

Coughlin shot 4-under 67 on the par-71 Long Cove Course to finish in a three-way tie atop the scoreboard. Starting on the 10th hole, Coughlin managed three birdies over her first five holes and made her turn at 3-under. After posting pars on the first three holes of the front nine, she went birdie, birdie, birdie and stood at 6-under before posting back-to-back bogeys on her 16th and 17th holes.

Coughlin was not the only UVA player to score in the 60s. Senior Elizabeth Szokol (Winnetka, Ill.) shot 2-under 69 and is in fourth place. The Cavaliers’ other scores included a 72 by freshman Morgan Gonzales (Chandler, Ariz.), a 73 by junior Lauren Diaz-Yi (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) and a 74 by freshman Anna Redding (Concord, N.C.). Gonzales is in 16th place while Diaz-Yi is 21st and Redding ended the round in 31st place.

Alabama’s Cheyenne Knight and Vanderbilt’s Alexandra Farnsworth share the first-round lead with Coughlin. Those three golfers matched the best first-round score in the tournament’s six-year history. UVA’s round was its best ever at the tournament. Last year the Cavaliers shot 20-over during the first round.

The field for this year’s tournament is one of the best of the collegiate season. It includes the top-five ranked teams in the current Golfstat standings.

The second round of the 54-hole tournament takes place Saturday. Virginia will be paired with Alabama and Vanderbilt during the second round and will tee off starting at 10 a.m. Live scoring is online at Golfstat.com.

Darius Rucker Intercollegiate
Hilton Head, S.C.
Long Cove Club
Par 71, 6,221 yards
First Round Results

Team Results 1. Alabama           278 2. Virginia          281 3. Vanderbilt        282 4. Arkansas          289 5. North Carolina    290 6. Oklahoma State    292 7. Tennessee         295 8. Auburn            296 9. USC               29710. Duke              29911. Wake Forest       30012. Georgia           30113. LSU               30313. Furman            30313. Mississippi State 30313. South Carolina    30317. Kentucky          307
Individual Leaders1. Cheyenne Knight, Alabama         671. Alexandra Farnsworth, Vanderbilt 671. Lauren Coughlin, Virginia        67
Virginia Results 1. Lauren Coughlin      67 4. Elizabeth Szokol     6916. Morgan Gonzales      7221. Lauren Diaz-Yi       7331. Anna Redding         74="http:>="http:>="http:>="http:>="http:>="http:>