Sept. 9, 2012

CHARLESTON, S.C. --- The Georgia women's golf team fired a 1-under 287 in Sunday's opening round of the Cougar Classic at Yeamans Hall Golf Club, leaving the Bulldogs in fifth place but just two shots off the pace set by Southern Cal.

Senior Emilie Burger and freshman Manuela Carbajo Re carded a pair of 2-under 70s to lead Georgia, which also counted an even-par 72 from sophomore Collins Bradshaw and 75 from sophomore Rocio Sanchez Lobato. The Bulldogs dropped the 76 by freshman Kailey Walsh.

Josh Brewer, who was making his career head coaching debut, was pleased with the Bulldogs' performance.

"It was a very solid day," Brewer said. "We had a chance to make it a very special day. Two of our last four holes were par-5s and we only played them at 1-under as a team. Some other teams played those holes at 5- or 6-under. But we played the rest of the course better than most everyone else so I guess I'm nit-picking. We had a chance to make a huge statement rather than a modest statement, but it was still a good day."

Burger reached the midway point at 1-under following a bogey at No. 3 and birdies at both No. 6 and No. 9. A bogey at No. 10 put Burger at even, but she rallied with birdies at No. 12 and No. 18 en route to the clubhouse.

Carbajo Re turned at 2-under after posting seven pars and birdies at No. 7 and No. 9. She played the back side even, with seven pars, a bogey at No. 11 and a birdie at No. 16.

Bradshaw's even-par effort bettered her career-low loop by four shots. Her steady day began with eight straight pars before a birdie at No. 9. She immediately gave that stroke with a bogey at No. 10. A birdie at No. 12 pushed her back into red numbers for two holes before she completed the day with a bogey at No. 15 and a trio of pars.

"We talked in our team meeting that we wanted to play with five people who have a chance to contribute every day," Brewer said. "Hats off to Ro. She got off to a slow start but hung in there and ended up giving us a counting score. That was almost as important as the two 70s. Ro is going to have plenty of low rounds for us this season but it says a lot that one of her off days she hung in there and saved us a stroke as a team. You never know, that might really help us come Tuesday."

Southern Cal, where Brewer was an assistant coach for the past four seasons, shot 3-under 285 and leads Duke, Virginia and Florida by one shot. Trailing the Bulldogs and rounding out the top-10 teams are Auburn at 288, Alabama and Vanderbilt at 289, N.C. State at 290 and Wisconsin at 292.

Individually, Auburn's Marta Sanz and Florida's Isabelle Lendl share the first-round lead after signing at 5-under 67. Burger and Carbajo Re are tied for seventh, Bradshaw is tied for 20th, Sanchez Lobato is tied for 60th and Walsh is tied for 77th.

Cougar Classic
Yeamans Hall Golf Club
Charleston, S.C.
Par 72; 6219 Yards

Sunday's First-Round Results

Team Leaderboard
Southern Cal                            285
Virginia                                286
Duke                                    286
Florida                                 286
Georgia                                 287
Auburn                                  288
Alabama                                 289
Vanderbilt                              289
N.C. State                              290
Wisconsin                               292
Penn State                              293
UCF                                     294
Tennessee                               296
Wake Forest                             297
Ole Miss                                299
Charleston Southern                     299
North Carolina                          299
Miami                                   300
College of Charleston                   300
UNC Greensboro                          300
North Carolina                          300
LSU                                     303
South Carolina                          306
Maryland                                309

Individual Leaderboard
Marta Sanz, Auburn                      67
Isabelle Lendl, Florida                 67
Irina Gabasa, Vanderbilt                69
Portland Rosen, Virginia                69
Lindy Duncan, Duke                      69
Camilla Hedberg, Florida                69
Emilie Burger, Georgia                  70
Manuel Carbajo Re, Georgia              70
Augusta James, N.C. State               70
Jennifer Kirby, Alabama                 70
Lauren Stratton, Vanderbilt             70
Sophia Popov, Southern Cal              70

Additional Georgia Scores
T20. Collins Bradshaw, Georgia          72
T60. Rocio Sanchez Lobato, Georgia      75
T77. Kailey Walsh, Georgia              76