GOLF, Ill. – The No. 25-ranked Georgia women’s golf team compiled an 11-under 565 in the first two rounds of the Windy City Collegiate Classic on Tuesday. Play was suspended in the second round with six teams still on the course. The Bulldogs completed both rounds and are in seventh place on the team leaderboard. Fifth-year senior Caterina Don leads the Bulldogs in fourth place at a 6-under 138.
“A really good day, especially the first 18 holes,” head coach Josh Brewer said. “We came out and found ourselves in second place. In a field like this, it is similar to competing at the national championship. It is a wonderful start. We are going to find ourselves in a position to either win the golf tournament or have an extremely high finish. We get to learn a lot about ourselves tomorrow under different conditions and different expectations.”
Georgia posted a 9-under 279 to tie for second heading into the second round. The Bulldogs’ score tied the fifth-best single round score in school history. Georgia carded a 286 in the afternoon.
In the first round, Georgia counted a pair of 3-under 69s from Don and graduate Napat Lertsadwattana. Don held the lead on the individual leaderboard for the Bulldogs, jumping six spots in the second round, fueled by four birdies on the front nine to card a 69 to finish the day.
“I am happy for (Don),” Brewer said. “She came as a freshman and had a really good start to her career. She has battled a few injuries and had a few setbacks, but she has always worked really hard and did everything right. It is fun to see her be rewarded and start her official senior year in such on great note.”
Overall, Don is in fourth at 138, three strokes behind individual leader Farah O’Keefe of Texas. LoraLie Cowart currently sits tied for 29th at 142, Kate Song is tied for 39th and one strike behind at 143, Lertsadwattana tied for 58th at 147 and Isabella Holpfer tied for 65th at 149.
No. 17 UCLA leads the team field at 24-under, eight strokes ahead of No. 14 Texas. Rounding out the top-10 teams are Northwestern and No. 2 Wake Forest at 15-under, No. 6 Oregon at 14-under, Duke at 12-under, the Bulldogs at 11-under, Arizona at 8-under, Louisville at 5-under and No. 7 Auburn at 4-under.
Georgia will be paired with No. 18 Arizona State and Duke for the third round. The groups will tee off at No. 1 starting at 8:30 a.m. ET.
