The Georgia women’s golf team posted a 6-over tally over the first and second rounds of The Gold Rush on Monday, including a season-low 1-under 287 in the morning. The Bulldogs are atop the team and individual leaderboards heading into Tuesday’s final round at Old Ranch Country Club.
“We’ve been wanting to shoot under par as a team and to go out this morning and do so was a great sign,” head coach Josh Brewer said. “We were probably off to an even better start in the afternoon but had about an hour of golf we’d like to have back. Still, I’m proud of the way we battled and finished atop the leaderboard at the end of the day. Tomorrow we get the chance to get our first win of the season, which is what we came out here to do.”
Georgia is a stroke ahead of Fresno State. The Bulldogs and Bulldogs will battle for the team title on Tuesday, as there is a 13-shot gap between Fresno and third-place Long Beach State.
Georgia freshman Céleste Dao leads the individual field at 3-under 141. She is one of three Bulldogs with top-5 spots on the leaderboard. Freshman Caterina Don is third at 1-under 143 and sophomore Jo Hua Hung is tied for fifth at 1-over 145. In addition, freshman Caroline Craig is tied for 11th at 147, freshman Candice Mahe is 18th at 149 and sophomore Jenny Bae is 38th at 154.
“Individually, we have a lot of talent,” Brewer said. “It’s not a surprise that we have so many people near the top of the leader board. We’ve been harping that if you take care of yourself individually, Georgia will be where it needs to be as a team. I think all six of them came in here thinking they had a chance to win. Realistically, three of them still have a good opportunity to do that tomorrow.”
In the first round, the Bulldogs were led by Hung’s 2-under 70, her second-straight 2-under loop dating back to the final round of the Lady Puerto Classic two weeks ago. Georgia also counted a pair of even-par 72s from Don and Mahe and a 73 from Craig.
Dao shot the Bulldogs’ best score in the afternoon, a 2-under 70; however, that tally was not part of Georgia’s team score because she is competing individually. The Bulldogs counted a 1-under 71 from Don, her 10th par-or-better effort in 16 rounds this season, as well as a 74 from Craig and a pair of 75s from Bae and Hung.
Georgia will be paired with Fresno State and Long Beach State on Tuesday, teeing off from holes Nos. 1-4 with an 11 a.m. ET shotgun start. Live scoring is available here.
“Tomorrow is part of the growth of your team when you have four freshmen and two sophomores leading us,” Brewer said. “We’ve gotten ourselves to the point where we’re in the lead going into the final round. Learning how to win is another step in that growth, but that’s exactly what we expect to do during the round tomorrow. We know if we take care of ourselves, we’ll be a happy bunch on that plane back to Georgia tomorrow night.”
The Gold Rush
Old Ranch Country Club
Seal Beach, Calif.
Par 72, 6169 Yards
Monday’s First- and Second-Round Results
Team Leaderboard
Georgia 287-295=582
Fresno State 291-292=583
Long Beach State 299-297=596
Charlotte 302-297=599
Sacramento State 297-302=599
Brigham Young 303-297=600
Minnesota 296-209=605
New Mexico State 307-300=607
Idaho 303-309=612
UC Irvine 307-309=616
Santa Clara 312-307=619
Wyoming 322-300=622
Boston College 313-313=626
Individual Leaderboard
Céleste Dao, Georgia 71-70=141
Harriet Lynch, Fresno St. 73-69=142
Caterina Don, Georgia 72-71=143
Maddie Riggs, UC Irvine 72-72=144
Jo Hua Hung, Georgia 70-75=145
Kristin Simonsen, Fresno St. 73-72=145
Brigitte Thibault, Fresno St. 70-75=145
Allysha Mae Mateo, BYU 78-68=146
Annick Haczkiewicz, BYU 74-72=146
Hannah Ko, Long Beach St. 73-73=146
Additional Georgia Scores
T11. Caroline Craig 73-74=147
18. Candice Mahe 72-77=149
38. Jenny Bae 79-75=154