April 27, 2012

PULLMAN, Wash. - The No. 9 California Golden Bear women's golf team is tied for third place after the first round of the Pac-12 Championships in Pullman, Wash. Senior Emily Childs and sophomore Nicola Roessler are both tied for seventh place after 18 holes.

The Bears and their competitors battled the elements, with windchill out on the course hovering around 35 degrees. Practice rounds on Thursday were shortened as the weather included sidewyas rain and blustery winds, causing the players to see many of the holes for the first time during Friday's opening round.

Given the conditions, it was a day of high scores for just about everyone, the Bears finished the day with a 306 (+18), tied for third place with USC and trailing the nation's top team, UCLA, by two strokes. Arizona State were the surprise of the first round, holding a five-stroke lead over UCLA after the first 18 holes of play at the par-72, 6,200 yard Palouse Ridge Golf Course. The Bears and Trojans are seven strokes behind the Sun Devils.

"We knew we needed to put our heads down and go hard through the conditions," said head coach Nancy McDaniel. "There were four doubles that, mostly on par-five's that I thought we could have avoided, but all-in-all, it wasn't a bad day for the Bears."

Senior Emily Childs started the day with a bogey on the first hole. She carded her lone birdie on 17, but doubled on 18 to finish at +4. On a day when all but one player was over par, first round leader Giulia Molinaro of Arizona State (71) being the only exception, Childs was tied for seventh place after the first round.

Her teammate, sophomore Nicola Roessler, was one of the eight people tied with Childs in seventh place. Roessler had five bogeys with a birdie on the par-4 15th hole to drop her to four-under.

"On the last hole, Emily lost her ball, which cost her two shots," said McDaniel. "Her score really doesn't tell the story of her round."

Seniors Joanne Lee and Daniela Holmqvist were one stroke back with identical five-over 77's.

The Bears will tee off on the first hole starting at 9:20 on Saturday, playing 18 holes. The tournament will conclude on Sunday, April 29 with the final round of 18 holes. Live scoring will be available through Golfstat.com.

"Anything can happen tomorrow," said McDaniel. "These gals are really playing good golf."

California Scores

T3 	     California 	306 	306
T7 	Emily Childs     	76 	76
T7 	Nicola Roessler  	76 	76
T16 	Joanne Lee      	77 	77
T16 	Daniela Holmqvist  	77 	77
55 	Jaqueline Williams  	89 	89

Team Scores

1 Arizona State
	+11 	F 	  +11 	299 	299
2 UCLA
	+16 	F 	  +16 	304 	304
T3 Southern Cal
	+18 	F 	  +18 	306 	306
T3 California
	+18 	F 	  +18 	306 	306
5 Oregon
	+19 	F 	  +19 	307 	307
6 Colorado
	+20 	F 	  +20 	308 	308
7 Washington State
	+24 	F 	  +24 	312 	312
T8 Arizona
	+27 	F 	  +27 	315 	315
T8 Washington
	+27 	F 	  +27 	315 	315
10 Oregon State
	+29 	F 	  +29 	317 	317
11 Stanford
	+32 	F 	  +32 	320 	320