Florida's Marta Perez is tied for fourth after the first round
(Florida Athletics Photo)
COLUMBUS, OH (May 8, 2017) - Few teams in the country have been playing better then Florida and on Monday at the Columbus Regional they continued that fine play. During first round play at The Ohio State University Scarlet Course the Gators turned in an 9-over tally and they will carry a two-stroke advantage into Tuesday's second round.
Following a 90 minute frost delay to start they day the SEC Champions quickly got to work on Monday and they were led by the 1-over effort of Marta Perez.
Presently tied for fourth, Perez bogeyed No. 1 before moving back to even-par with a 4th hole birdie. That birdie early in the round proved to be the only of the day for Perez as she dropped one more shot with a 15th hole bogey.
Three other Gators are currently inside the top-15 of the standings and powering Florida to the first round lead. The trio includes Kelly Grassel (T7; +2), Maria Torres (T12; +3) and Taylor Tomlinson (T12; +3).
As the only player under-par Marta Martin Garcia of Purdue is leading the way in the individual race. Garcia got as low as 4-under before she double-bogeyed the 18th hole as she ultimately signed for a 2-under 70.
Leading by two shots, Garcia overcame an opening hole bogey and one additional dropped shot with six birdies throughout the course of her round. The birdies for Garcia came on Nos. 4, 6, 8, 9 10 and 14.
Behind Garcia in the medalist standings come Gabby Curtis (Wisconsin) and Morgane Metraux (Florida State) in second place at even-par while Maddie Szeryk (Texas A&M), Jaclyn Lee (Ohio State) and Garcia are sharing fourth at 1-over.
From each regional six teams will advance to the NCAA Championships.
Outside of Florida the top-six currently includes Florida State (+11) in second place, Purdue (+14) and Ohio State (+14) are tied for third at 14-over, Texas A&M (+20) is in fifth while Arkansas (+21) and South Carolina (+21) are sharing sixth.
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NCAA Women's Central Regional
54 hole women's NCAA Regional from which the low
teams advance to the NCAA Championship.
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