Oct. 21, 2011

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -

The No. 16 California Golden Bear women's golf team ended the first round of the Mercedes-Benz SEC/Pac-12 Challenge in 11th place in a field featuring the top teams in the country. Sophomore Nicola Roessler had the low round for the Bears, shooting an even-par 72.

The Bears, competing in the final tournament of the fall portion of their schedule, opened with a +11 (299), putting them in 11th place out of 23 teams heading into Saturday's second round at the par-72, 6,447-yard course at Houlston Hills Country Club in Knoxville, Tenn. UCLA leads the pack at -7 (281).

Sophomore Nicola Roessler had the low opening round for the Bears. Roessler birdied her first hole of the day and ended the round with four birdies on her scorecard en route to shooting an even-par 72. She is currently tied for 15th among individuals. The first-round leaders are tied at four-under (68). Senior Joanne Lee had a strong finish, carding four back-nine birdies to post a one-over 73, tying her for 23rd.

The Bears begin the second round, starting on hole number one, with the first tee times beginning at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday. The tournament will conclude with the third and final round on Sunday.

Live Scoring will be available through Golfstat.

California Scores

11 	California 	299
T15 	Nicola Roessler 	72
T23 	Joanne Lee      	73
T55 	Emily Childs     	76
T78 	Daniela Holmqvist  	78
T104 	Jaqueline Williams  	82

Team Scores

1 UCLA  -7 281
2 Alabama -4 284
3 Tennessee +3 	291
T4 Colorado  +7 295
T4 Washington  +7 295
T6 Auburn +8  296
T6 Vanderbilt  +8 296
T6 Arizona  +8 	296
T9 Florida  +10 298
T9 Southern Cal +10 298
11 California  +11 299
T12 Arizona State +12 300
T12 Stanford  +12 300
T14 Mississippi  +13 301
T14 Oregon  +13 301
16 Arkansas  +15 303
17 Georgia  +17 305
18 LSU +19 307
19 South Carolina +22 310
T20 Kentucky +24 312
T20 Washington State  +24 312
22 Oregon State  +25 313
23 Mississippi State +29 317