WOMEN'S GOLF REMAINS IN THIRD PLACE FOLLOWING SECOND ROUND OF BIG SKY CHAMPIONSHIPS
4/20/2010
CHANDLER, Ariz. — Senior Brooke Green shot a season-best round of 73 to pace the Sacramento State women's golf team during the second round of the Big Sky Championships on Tuesday at the Ocotillo Golf Resort.
The Hornets posted their second consecutive round of 299 and are seven strokes behind Portland State and Northern Arizona heading into Wednesday's final round. PSU shot 296 on Tuesday while NAU shot 297. The two are tied with a two-round total of 591. Northern Colorado (609), Montana (612), Weber State (625), Montana State (625), Eastern Washington (652) and Idaho State (657) complete the nine-team field.
"There is some very good golf being played by the top three teams," Sacramento State Director of Golf David Sutherland said. "The good news is that we are still in the hunt. We need to get off to a better start and putt better. We've been having to recover instead of getting out early and staying there."
Green's day began with a birdie on the par-5 first and a par on the par-4 second. A bogey on the third was her only miscue of the front nine and she eventually dropped to 2-under at the turn with birdies on the par-3 seventh and par-4 ninth. Her back nine began with pars on the 10th and 12th and a bogey on 11. She earned that stroke back with a birdie on the par-4 13th and then parred the next three holes. However, the senior encountered some troubles on the final two holes, bogeying the par-4 17th and doubling the the par-5 18th. Her 36-hole total of 75-73-148 ties her for fourth.
"Brooke played extremely well for the first 16 holes," Sutherland said. "She caught a tough break with a chip on the final hole, but overall she had a strong round."
Freshman Kercia Brakel overcame a rough first round in which she shot 83 to post the second best score on the team with a 74 on Tuesday. Brakel was 2-over after nine holes with a combination of one birdie, six pars and two bogeys. On the back, she opened with a bogey on 10 but then played the next four holes at 1-under with a birdie on the par-5 11th. She ended with a bogey on the par-3 16th and parred the remaining two holes for her career low at Sacramento State.
Junior Samantha Saffold and sophomore Julie Shutler each shot 76 in the second round. Saffold started slowly with bogeys on four of the five first holes. Her lone exception was a birdie on the par-3 fourth. Two pars were followed by a pair of bogeys which left the Sacramento native at 5-over through nine holes. That number jumped to six with a bogey on the 11th. From that point, however, Saffold played the final seven holes at 2-under with birdies on 13 and 15. Saffold is part of the four-way tie for fourth at 72-76-148.
Shutler parred seven holes on the front with two bogeys. She eventually dropped to 6-over with four pars and two double bogeys through 13. The Manteca, Calif., native saved her round with birdies on 16 and 18 and pars on 15 and 17 to finish at 4-over for the second consecutive day. Shutler is tied for 12 at 76-76-152.
Junior Justine Chen also shot 78 in the second round with two birdies, 10 pars, five bogeys and a double bogey.
Northern Arizona's Stephanie Kim extended her first day lead with a round of 70. Kim now holds a five stroke lead over teammate Megan Buck.
TEAM SCORES
T1. Portland State 295-296-591
T1. Northern Arizona 294-297-591 3. SACRAMENTO STATE 299-299-598
4. Northern Colorado 300-309-609
5. Montana 311-301-612
T6. Weber State 313-312-625
T6. Montana State 309-316-625
8. Eastern Washington 324-328-652
9. Idaho State 326-331-657
INDIVIDUAL TOP FIVE
1. Stephanie Kim, NAU, 69-70-139
2. Megan Buck, NAU, 70-75-145
3. Britney Yada, PSU, 71-76-147 T4. Brooke Green, SAC, 75-73-148
T4. Samantha Saffold, SAC, 72-76-148 T4. Stephanie Johns, PSU, 75-73-148
T4. Ali Nelson, NC, 75-73-148
CHANDLER, Ariz. — Senior 
