Opening Round at St. Lawrence Invitational

Opening Round at St. Lawrence Invitational

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CANTON, N.Y. – The Ithaca College and Utica College golf team opened up the fall portion of its 2016-17 schedule on Saturday afternoon, as they hit the links at Oliver D. Appleton Golf Course for the St. Lawrence Invitational. 
 
Perfect weather accompanied the start to the season, as sunny skies and light winds helped the Bombers aggressively attack the challenging Appleton course. IC's top four scoring golfers carded a 329 (+41), easily besting the 354 that the team carded in the opening round of last year's St. Lawrence Invitational.
 
"The women played well today," head coach Molly Braid said. "Everyone came off the course with energy, which is a really great sign for tomorrow's early start after a five-hour round this afternoon."
 
Kimberley Wong got off to a fantastic start to her senior campaign, leading the way for the Bombers with a scintillating 75 (+3) in her opening round. The round equaled her career-low 18-hole score, which she notched at Cortland Country Club during her sophomore season in 2014-15.
 
Wong's short game was on point from the get-go and carried throughout the round, as she got up-and-down to save par six times. She fired an even-par opening nine holes, carding five pars and two birdies. She posted four additional pars and one birdie on the back nine to sit in serious contention for an individual title in tomorrow's second round.
 
"Our short games really kept us in it," Braid explained. "Our approach shots need to be fine-tuned for tomorrow's round. If we can combine that with our strong play around the green we will have a good chance at moving up the leaderboard."
 
Junior Indiana Jones also posted a solid round, marking an 83 (+11). She carded four pars on the front nine and notched four more on the back. Jones finished off the round on a high-note with a birdie on the 18th.
 
Freshman golfer, Peyton Greco, marked an excellent start to her Bomber career with an 84 (+12). She notched four pars and one birdie on the front, before closing out the round with three pars on the final nine.
 
Junior Kyra Denish got off to an excellent start to her round on Saturday, marking four pars and one birdie on the front. However, the third-year struggled on the back nine, marking one par en route to an 87 (+15). Senior Mary Rooker added four pars throughout her round to shoot a 93 (+21).
 
Utica competed its inaugural varsity match. Freshman Kara O'Driscoll (Holyoke, MA/Holyoke) led the way for the women with a 93 and currently sits in a tie for 33rd out of 50 golfers.  Jane Pagano (Erie, PA/Tabor Academy) posted a 102 and is tied for 42nd, while Olivia Hirschy(Fort Wayne, IN/Culver Academies) shot a 110 and is tied for 45th. Gabrielle Schnepp(Northville, MI/Belle Tire) shot a 115 and is tied for 47th and Miranda Cuda (Sylvan Beach, NY/Oneida) shot a 125 and sits in 49th place.