RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. - Laura Bavaird and Lindsay Dunigan had career and season bests, respectively in today's first two rounds at the Northwestern Invitational held at The Gary Player Signature Course at Mission Hills Resort in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Western Michigan shot itself into a ninth-place tie (UC-Irvine and Texas Tech) after the morning round, firing a team score of 301 on the strength of Bavaird's even-par 72, her career best, and a 2-over par 74 for Dunigan. The score Dunigan carded in the first round matched her best of the fall or spring, tying a 74 she shot at the Unlimited Potential/Bay Tree Classic this past September.
The pair answered their first rounds with a 78 each to lead the Broncos in the second round. Jenna Walter also recorded two rounds in the 70's, firing a 79 in both Monday rounds. Erin Thorne also scored in the 70's in the opening round, carding a 76.
"The morning conditions were perfect. We knew there were low scores out there to be had and I felt we scored well in the first round," commented Bronco head coach Cindy Trout.
WMU's first round team score betterd its Mid-American Conference counterpart, Northern Illinois (318) by 17 strokes as the Huskies was in last place heading into the afternoon round. The other MAC team in competition, Kent State, left no doubt as to how the Golden Flashes would attack The Gary Player Signature Course.
KSU shot a 279 in round one and followed by bettering its efforts by three strokes with a 276 in the afternoon round. Kent State counted five scores in the 60's over the first two rounds and two more under par, two players carded 2-under par 70's. In fact the Golden Flashes' highest counted score in the 5-4 tournament format was a three-over par 75.
Western Michigan, which shot a team score of 318 and in 13th place after two rounds, ranked in a tie for 12th in birdies with 16. In comparison, Kent State leads the field with 41. The Golden Flashes is representing the conference well, leading the second-place team, Michigan State by 17 strokes heading into the third and final round. The top three in the individual standings wear blue and gold as Kira Meixner and Becky Wood are tied for the lead at 8-under par (136), followed by Tara Delaney at 6-under par (138).
"We had a few too many mechanical mistakes and we found ourselves getting in too much trouble with penalty shots to score well in the afternoon," said Trout.
Top-Five Team Standings: Kent State (279-276=555, -21); Michigan State (286-286=572, -4); SMU (288-291=579, +3); Baylor (290-300=590, +14); UC-Irvine (301-290=591, +15)
Top-Five Individual Standings: Kira Meixner-KSU (67-69=136, -8); Becky Wood-KSU (69-67=136, -8); Tara Delaney-KSU (68-70=138, -6); Rachel Meikle-MSU (70-70=140, -4); Christi Athas-ISU (71-70=141, -3)
Bronco Individual Scores: T-36th, Laura Bavaird (72-78=150, +6); T-43rd, Lindsay Dunigan (74-78=152, +8); T-61st, Jenna Walter (79-79=158, +14); 66th, Erin Thorne (76-83=159, +15); 71st, Erica Deschamps (80-83=163, +19)
