Clemson, S.C.—Callista Rice and Annabelle Pancake both shot even-par rounds of 72 in difficult conditions to lead Clemson to a tie for third place after the first round of the Landfall Tradition at the Landfall Golf Club in Wilmington, NC. The 18-team field continues play with 18 holes on Saturday. Sunday’s final round begins at 8:45 a.m. with a shotgun start.
It was an impressive performance for Kelley Hester’s Tigers as Clemson is just two shots off the lead head by 15th ranked Michigan at 289. Fourth-ranked Virginia is second at two-over par 290, while Clemson is tied for third with sixth-ranked South Carolina and ninth-ranked Texas. Clemson is ahead seventh-ranked Wake Forest (295) and 18th ranked Florida State (303). The field has four top 10 teams and seven top 25 teams according to the latest Golfstat.com rankings.
“We played well on the front nine,” said Head Coach Kelley Hester. “The wind came up when we were on the back nine and the course played tougher. I am very proud of our team for staying mentally strong under the challenging conditions.
“Even par was a good score today, so to have Annabelle Pancake and Callista Rice shoot even-par from our #4 and #5 positions in the lineup showed our team’s depth.”
Pancake and Rice are tied for 12th after the first round. Only 18 players in the 96 player field shot par-or-better. Pancake got off to a quick start with birdies on the first and third holes and shot 35 on the front nine. She scored a 37 on the back nine, including a birdie on the par five 18th hole.
Rice, had a double bogey on the second hole, but then played the last 16 at two under. The “Super Senior” made consecutive birdies on holes 6-7-8. It was the second time this year she had made a birdie on three consecutive holes. She was just one-over on the back with one bogey and eight pars.
Senior Ivy Shepherd had a one-over-par 73 on Friday. She had a team best five birdies, but did have six bogeys and stands in a tie for 19th place after the first round. She did finish strong with a birdie on the 18th hole.
Savannah Grewal also got off to a good start with a 34 on the front side, including consecutive birdies on holes four and five, but she slipped to a 40 on the back when the winds kicked up to shoot 74 for the round. She is tied for 27th after the first round.
Melena Barrientos had six bogeys and 12 pars on Friday to shoot 78. It was the first time her round did not count towards the team score this year.
Live scoring is available throughout the tournament on golfstat.com.
