Clemson, S.C.-Melena Barrientos fired a pair of under-par rounds to lead Clemson on the first day of the Clemson women’s golf season at the Cougar Classic in Hanahan, SC.
Clemson stands in 10th place out of 17 teams from across the country with a score of 580 after the first day of the two-day, 54-hole tournament at the par 72 Yeamans Hall Course. Clemson shot a team round of 293 in the morning, then improved by six shots to shoot a one-under-par 287 in the afternoon.
Georgia has the team lead at 16-under-par 560. The Tigers rank second among the four ACC teams in the field, trailing only North Carolina, who shot a 36-hole score of 573. Miami (FL) is 11th at 581 and NC State is 15th at 590.
Barrientos, a freshman from Plano, Texas, had rounds of 71 and 68 for a 139 total that is good enough for sixth place in the field of 93 golfers. She became just the third Clemson player in history to shoot under par in each of her first two career rounds. Sloan Shanahan had consecutive rounds of 69 to open her career in 2013, and Alice Hewson, now a regular on the European Tour, shot 71-65 to open her career in 2015. Both Shanahan and Hewson accomplished the feat at the same Yeamans Hall Course.
Barrientos had just three bogeys and eight birdies over her 36 holes on Monday. Her three bogeys were consecutive on holes 17, 18 and 1 in the first round. She played bogey free her final 26 holes of the day. She became the first Clemson women’s golfer to record a bogey free round in two years when she had a bogey free four-under 68 in the second round.
Ivy Shepherd, Clemson’s leader in stroke average the last two years, had consecutive rounds of one over par 73 and stands in 35th place after two rounds. She had two birdies and three bogeys in each round.
“Super senior “ Calista Rice had an opening round 71 to match Barrientos for team honors for the first round, the third best round of her career. She recorded three birdies on the front nine and one on the back. She stands at 148 after 36 holes, tied for 51st place.
Sophomore Annabelle Pancake had a 78 in the first round, but came back with an even-par 72 in the afternoon, second best among the Clemson players. She had four birdies and four bogeys in that round.
Gabriella Tomanka, a sophomore playing in just her second career tournament, showed the most improvement from the first round to the second round, as she had rounds of 82 and 74.
“We need to play more aggressive on Tuesday,” said Head Coach Kelley Hester. “Our team got into good position all day, but we just didn’t make enough putts. Melena’s performance was not a surprise in that she shot six-under-par in our qualifying tournament.”
The tournament will conclude on Tuesday with the 17 teams beginning at 8:45 a.m. in a shotgun start format. Live scoring is available on golfstat.com.
