March 2, 2012

HILTON HEAD, S.C. --- Paced by an even-par 71 from Marta Silva Zamora and a 1-over 72 by Emilie Burger, the No. 9-ranked Georgia women's golf team shot 297 in the opening round of the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate on Friday. The Bulldogs are tied for third, nine shots off the pace of No. 2 Alabama.

"In general, we played better than we scored," head coach Kelley Hester said. "In talking to the girls after the round, they all felt pretty comfortable on the course. We hit a lot of greens but then had a couple big numbers. We played well tee-to-green but didn't get the most out the day. We need to be a little stingier around the greens. We'd like to be a little closer to the leaders after tomorrow's round."

Rounding out Georgia's counting scores were a pair of 77s from Milena Savich and Rocio Sanchez Lobato. The Bulldogs dropped a 79 by Tess Fordham. Abby Johnson, who is competing as an individual, shot 78.

Overall, Silva Zamora is tied for third, four shots behind leader Stephanie Meadow of Alabama. Burger is tied for seventh, Savich and Sanchez Lobato are knotted in 45th, Johnson is tied for 53rd and Fordham is tied for 60th.

Georgia teed off from No. 10 and played the back half of the course first on Friday. Silva Zamora bogeyed No. 10 but gained that stroke back with a birdie at No. 15 and eventually turned at even. A birdie at No. 1 moved her into red numbers before bogeys at No. 4 and No. 7 pushed her to 1-over. She returned to even on the day with a birdie at No. 9.

Trailing the Crimson Tide and rounding out the top-10 teams are No. 10 North Carolina at 292, the Bulldogs, VIrginia and UCF all at 297, No. 5 Vanderbilt at 299, TCU and Notre Dame at 301, Wake Forest at 302 and South Carolina both at 303.

Play continues at the Long Cove Club through Sunday, with live scoring available at www.golfstat.com.

Darius Rucker Intercollegiate
Long Cove Club
Hilton Head Island, S.C.
Par 71, 6160 Yards

Friday's First-Round Standings

Team Leaderboard
Alabama                                       288
North Carolina                                292
Georgia                                       297
UCF                                           297
Virginia                                      297
Vanderbilt                                    299
TCU                                           301
Notre Dame                                    301
Wake Forest                                   302
South Carolina                                303
Arkansas                                      305
Texas                                         305
Tennessee                                     305
Coastal Carolina                              307
USC Beaufort                                  327

Individual Leaderboard
Stephanie Meadow, Alabama                     67
Monifa Sealy, UCF                             70
Marta Silva Zamora, Georgia                   71
Brooke Beeler, TCU                            71
Brooke Pancake, Alabama                       71
Emilie Burger, Georgia                        72
Katie Burnett, South Carolina                 72
Catherine O'Donnell, North Carolina           72
Katherine Perry, North Carolina               72
Jessica Alexander, Coastal Carolina           73
Brittany Altomare, Virginia                   73
Ashley Armstrong, Notre Dame                  73
Briana Mao, Virginia                          73
Katie Mitchell, UCF                           73
Emily Tubert, Arkansas                        73

Additional Georgia Scores
T45. Milena Savich, Georgia                   77
T45. Rocio Sanchez Lobato, Georgia            77
T53. Abby Johnson, Georgia                    78
T60. Tess Fordham, Georgia                    79