SHUTLER CHARGES INTO THIRD PLACE; WOMEN'S GOLF FIFTH AT FRESNO STATE LEXUS CLASSIC
3/12/2012
Julie Shutler birdied five of her final seven holes to move into third place following the first day of the Fresno State Lexus Classic.
FRESNO, Calif. — Senior Julie Shuter stands at 1-over through 36 holes and is tied for third place at the Fresno State Lexus Classic. Shutler shot rounds of 75 and 70 on the par-72 course at Copper River Golf Club on Monday.
As a team, Sacramento State is in fifth place with a team score of 305-303-608. The Hornets, who have the best score among Big Sky Conference teams in the field, are 20 strokes off the pace set by San Jose State which totaled two rounds of 294. Cal State Fullerton (589), Fresno State (604) and Nevada (605) complete the top five.
The third round of the tournament will take place on Tuesday.
Shutler began her opening round on the par-3 8th hole and immediately ran into trouble with a pair of bogeys. After carding three straight pars, she birdied the par-5 13th but gave back two strokes with a double bogey on the par-4 15th. Five more pars were followed by back-to-back birdies on Nos. 3 and 4 before she ended her round with a bogey on the 5th and 7th with a par in between.
In the afternoon, Shutler was 1-under after her first three holes but moved to 3-over after bogeys on Nos. 11, 12, 15 and 17. A par on the 18th led to a run where she birdied five of her final seven holes to finish at 2-under. In that stretch, the Manteca, Calif., native birdied a pair of par-5s as well as three par-4s.
Shutler's second round is tied for the second lowest in her Hornet career and was only one stroke off her personal best. It was also the lowest score in the second round among the field. Her 36-hole score places her three strokes behind SJSU's Madeline Ziegert who leads at 70-72-142. Tisha Alyn Abrea of Cal State Fullerton is second at 72-71-143.
Justine Chen ranked second on the team and is tied for 26th after two rounds. Chen shot 74-79-153. The senior opened with a bogey on the 10th before rolling off seven straight pars. A bogey on 18 left her at 2-over as she made the turn. On the front nine holes, Chen birdied the par-4 1st and the par-4 7th but also had a pair of bogeys to accompany five pars.
The afternoon round was not as kind as Chen finished with one birdie, 11 pars, four bogeys and a pair of double bogeys.
Freshman Lexie Hall contributed a 77 in the morning and followed that effort with a 78 in the second round. Hall is tied for 33rd place.
Kercia Brakel is tied for 40th at 79-78-157 and Sagee Palavivatana is tied for 49th at 81-77-158.
The 13-team field also features Big Sky foes Montana and Portland State who were picked second and third to the Hornets in the preseason poll. After the first day, the Lady Griz are tied for 10th with a total of 623 while the Vikings are 13th after scoring 624.
TEAM SCORES
1. San Jose State 294-294-588
2. Cal State Fullerton 289-300-589
3. Fresno State 302-302-604
4. Nevada 305-300-605 5. SACRAMENTO STATE 305-303-608
6. Wyoming 309-302-611
7. UC Riverside 313-299-612
8. San Francisco 305-308-613
9. Santa Clara 303-315-618
T10. Boise State 309-314-623
T10. Montana 318-305-623
T10. Columbia 312-311-623
13. Portland State 319-305-624
