UC Davis sophomore Alice Kim played at par after an early double-bogey to shoot a 2-over 74 and tie for 12th on Tuesday after the first round of the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md.
Kim qualified for the NCAA Finals by finishing the NCAA West Regional on May 9 at Arizona State as the top individual. She is being joined at this week’s tournament near Baltimore by five other individual qualifiers and 24 teams.
Kim had a rough start to her first round of the 72-hole tournament, posting a double-bogey on the par 4 first hole. A bogey at No. 4 moved her to 3-over, but three birdies the rest of the way – including two on the back nine – helped her come in at 2-over.
“You can’t win a tournament on the first day but you can certainly lose it, and Alice put herself in a great spot,” said coach Anne Walker. “The top 20 is the place you want to be.”
Kim, a first-team All-Big West Conference selection, is just four shots off the pace being set by Catherine O’Donnell of North Carolina and Stephanie Sherlock of Denver, who each shot 70. They were the only two players under par after the first round.
“Nationals is a marathon,” said Walker. “I think if she does this again, she’ll find she’s in a spot to make a move come Thursday and Friday.”
Fourteenth-ranked Denver shot a 6-over 294 to take a two-shot advantage over No. 2 UCLA in the team standings.
Aggie Digest is compiled by the California Aggie sports staff with briefs from the UC Davis athletics website, ucdavisaggies.com.
