The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

SOPHIE Guo lived up to her expectations as the top-ranked player, as she shot a six-under-par 66 to help the University of Texas Longhorns snatch the early lead in the White Sands NCAA Invitational Tournament.

At the end of day one of the three-day tournament for women yesterday at the Atlantis’ Ocean Club Golf Course, Guo turned in the lowest individual score as Texas finished with a total of 276.

Guo, in just her rookie season, was joined by No.2 seed Sara Kouskova with a 69, No.3 Kaitlyn Papp with 70, No.5 Emilee Hoffman with 71 and No.4 Hailee Cooper with 73.

Their performances topped the 14-member field that was followed by the University of Arkansas with 283.

The Razorbacks were led by No.2 seed Ela Anacona with 69, No.4 Grace St-Germain with 70, No.1 Kajal Mistry with 71, No.5 Julia Gregg with 73 and No.3 Brooke Matthews with 76.

Shauna Taylor, the head coach for Arkansas, said she’s confident that her Razorbacks will prevail.

“It’s a great way to start. Our goal is to come here and to put ourselves in a position to win this tournament and there’s no better place to do it than in Paradise,” she stated.

“This is a fantastic golf course. It’s just a treat to be able to bring our team here to play. It’s been a blessing. We are looking forward to the final two days of competition.”

As the tournament host, the University of Houston Cougars rounds out the top three with 287.

No.2 Karen Fredgaard lead their account with a 68, No.1 Hannah Screen had 69, both No.3 Annie Kim and No.5 Brooke McDougald were tied with 75 and No.4 Ariana Saenz had an 85.

Lydia Gumm, the assistant coach at Houston, said head coach Gerrod Chadwell’s wife Stacy Lewis, the two-time LPGA Player of the Year, played here when the Pure Silk Ladies’ Professional Golf Tournament took place and they were impressed with the facilities.

“So he had a connection with White Sands and Jeff Raedle and so we ended up hosting this collegiate golf tournament here,” Gumm said. “It’s been such a wonderful experience. “It’s been going good so far. The course here is tougher, but it looks good and obviously the girls are enjoying it. We saw lots of birdies, so we can’t wait to see how things go tomorrow (today).”

Gumm said hopefully their Cougars will be able to roar a lot harder as the tournament progresses. “We still have a chance, so I’m excited about the second round,” Gumm said.

Completing the field of teams at the end of the day were Clemson with 288 in fourth place, the University of Georgia in fifth with 289, Baylor in sixth with 291, Ohio State in seventh with 293, Mississippi State eighth with 294, Oklahoma and North Texas tied for ninth with 295, Tennessee 11th with 296, Tulane and SMU tied for 12th with 299 and New Mexico 14th with 300.

Individually, Clemson’s Gracyn Burgess and Houston’s Karen Fredgaard are tied for second with 68, while there is a four-way tie for fourth place with Texas’ Sara Kouskova, Houston’s Hannah Screen, Arkansas’ Ela Anacona and Georgia’s Caterina Don with 69 each.

Jeff Raedle said after the LPGA took the Pure Silk Tournament to the United States, they decided to connect with the Ministry of Tourism to bring another tournament to the Bahamas.

“We ran the Pure Silk Tournament for six years. It was a great run, but we had to switch things up, so we came up with this White Sands series,” said Raedle, the tournament director.

“We hosted an LPGA Pro-Am Tournament here in February at Atlantis and the Ocean Golf Course and we did a television show for the Golf Channel that was broadcasted about a month ago. We are wrapping up the year with this NCAA tournament. Unlike the Pure Silk Golf Tournament, we are going to get more extended play with this White Sands series.”

The women will complete their version of the NCAA tournament on Wednesday. On Thursday, 14 teams will participate in the men’s version that will run through Sunday.

“The unique part of this tournament is that the individual women and men’s winner will get a sponsored exemption into a professional event in 2020,” he said. “So that is something really cool that the players are looking forward to achieving.”

In between those two segments of the tournament, White Sands will stage a Pro-Am for local sponsors and golfing enthusiasts against some of the men’s collegiate players on Thursday, the official practice day for the male players.

From Friday to Sunday, the men’s segment of the tournament will be played.