Courtesy Harding University Athletics Department
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Defending champion Harding placed three golfers in the top 10 to take the lead following the first round of play of the 2013 Great American Conference Women’s Golf Championship on Sunday from the Hot Springs Country Club.
So-Yun Kim led the way for the Lady Bisons as she matched the low round of the day with a 4-over par 76. She led the 48-woman field with four birdies. Emily Plyler finished the round one shot behind Kim with a 77. Brittany Marquez shot a 79. The Lady Bisons shot 316, one shot off the low team score in the brief history of the GAC Championships. Kim and Plyler both shot 1-under on the tournament’s four par 5s. Plyler led Harding with 10 pars.
Southwestern Oklahoma State wrapped up Sunday six shots in back of Harding and in second place. Margaret Musser matched Kim with a 4-over par 76 to share the individual lead. She played the Hot Springs Country Club’s 10 par-4s in 1-over par. Ana-Laura Gomez shot a 77 to tied Plyler for third place. Ashlynn Hall shot 80 and ended the day in a tie for 10th place.
Henderson State and Arkansas Tech placed third and fourth, respectively. The Lady Reddies trail the Lady Bulldogs by two strokes with the Golden Suns five shots further back. Henderson State’s Katie Flynn and Arkansas Tech’s Rebecka Surtevall, the 2012 individual medalist, shot dueling 77’s to share third place. East Central shot a team score of 333 to take fifth place.
Arkansas-Monticello, Southern Arkansas and Ouachita Baptist rounded out the team standings. The golfers from Southern Nazarene and Northwestern Oklahoma State are competing for individual honors with the Lady Rangers’ Stephanie Martin firing the low round between the two schools. She shot a 78 to share seventh place.
Second-round play begins Monday at 8 a.m. with Southern Arkansas and Ouachita Baptist teeing off first.