COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho – For the first time in program history, the Seattle Pacific University women's golf team competed at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships, where Zoe Garcia led the Falcons in round one.
"The first 90 minutes of the round played extremely difficult with the low temperature, rain, and heavy winds," head coach Tyler Copp said. "That contributed to the higher scores for everyone in the field. Once the rain stopped, we faced heavy winds until the closing stretch."
Garcia finished the opening round of the GNAC Championships with an 80. Her score is tied for 11th on the individual leaderboard. Garcia shined on par 3's on the front nine, collecting birdies on holes three and six. She closed out her round with a birdie on 18.
Anika Schau put together a strong first nine to start her tournament. She birdied the par 3 fifth hole and grabbed another on the eighth hole. Schau finished the opening round with an 86.
"Our start of the round wasn't anything special but everyone hitting the green in regulation on 5 helped settle us in," Copp said. "Zoe and Anika led the way on the front 9 with steady golf."
Brigitte Fenton had the second-best score for the Falcons in round one. She was incredibly consistent, with 10 pars in the round. She scored par on seven of the final nine holes on the course. Fenton finished with an 83 in round one.
Like Fenton, Natalie Eklund found a rhythm on the back nine of the course. She ended her round emphatically, picking up birdies on the 17th and 18th holes. She shot even par on the back nine on her way to a first round 82.
"Holes 7-10 played extremely difficult, but we found some scoring opportunities from 13-18," Copp said. "Brigitte put together 7 pars on the back 9 and Natalie's even par back 9, including birdies on 17 & 18, were major highlights today."
"Coming into the tournament it was going to be important to score well on the par 3's," Copp added. "We led the field with the lowest Par 3 scoring average which is something to be proud of and continue tomorrow."
The Falcons are in fifth place in the team standings. Simon Fraser sits atop the leaderboard, while Northwest Nazarene's Christine Cho is the individual leader with a 75 in round one.
"One area we will focus on heading into tomorrow is our par 5 scoring," Copp said. "There are a few tough ones out there, so we must put ourselves in a good spot for our 3rd shots and execute from there."
The Falcons tee off round two tomorrow at 7:30 a.m.
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