Michigan State women sit in 6th after first day of NCAA regional at Forest Akers
EAST LANSING — It was an up-and-down first day.
But while the Michigan State women's golf team didn't quite play as well as it would have liked on Monday's first day of the NCAA East Lansing Regional at Forest Akers West, the Spartans still sit in solid position with two rounds to go.
After a bit of a slow start, MSU found a groove to close out its first nine holes, then faltered a bit late to finish with a 3-over-par 291 in its opening round. The Spartans – the No. 5 seed in the 12-team field – are tied for sixth place with No. 8 seed Oklahoma State. The top five teams in the 54-hole regional qualify for the NCAA Championships May 17-22 in Carlsbad, California.
"We certainly had enough birdies to do what we needed to do, but we made a lot of mistakes on holes that we should be able to play better," MSU coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll said. "It's day one and we're not out of it. We're in a fine place and we'll talk about a better strategy for tomorrow and move on.
"These kids have a lot of experience and they know what they're doing. We pump these kids up. It's such a mental game and they have to know that we believe in them and we can do it as a team."
No. 1 seed Southern California is the leader after day one, shooting a 7-under-par 281. Pepperdine is right behind after a 5-under 283, while Big Ten foe Northwestern sits in third at 4-under. Florida is three shots further back in fourth place.
Juniors Katie Lu and Brooke Biermann both shot even-par 72 to pace the Spartans, who started on the back nine. Senior Leila Raines was 2-under- through the first nine holes but shot 3-over-par on the final nine to finish with a 1-over 73.
Lu hit a big birdie putt on the seventh hole to bring herself back to even par, then closed her round with a lengthy putt to save par on the ninth hole.
"It was definitely a grind today, but I think I had some really good putts on the back nine that helped me a ton," Lu said. "Knowing that this is our home course, once I got a little settled in I was able to be more aggressive. It's normal to have nerves at such a high level of golf, but I have some momentum going into tomorrow."
Sophomore Paula Balanzategui was MSU's best golfer for most of the day, heading into the final hole at 1-under. But a two-stroke penalty for hitting the wrong ball led to a triple bogey on her final hole, leaving her at 2-over 74 at the end of round one.
"That was a mistake by her coach and by Paula," Slobodnik-Stoll said. "That was really stupid and it's hard to take a two-stroke penalty in a qualifier like this, but it happened. We're still in a fine position, and she played great the whole rest of the day and she's played great all spring."
The familiarity with the course was evident at moments for the Spartans, who qualified for last year's NCAA Championships by winning the Palm Beach Regional. MSU teed off on No. 10 with 4-seed Pepperdine and 6-seed Kentucky. The 17th hole saw three MSU birdies and an eagle from Lu, while holes 10 and 13 saw three different Spartans make birdies as well.
"It was a pretty solid round. Overall, I was pretty happy with it," said Biermann, who tied for first at last year's regional. "I think some shots coming into the green and some putts that break so much, having the course knowledge is really important for us going into tomorrow."
MSU is chasing No. 7 seed Denver, which sits at 2-over, by just one stroke for the final qualifying position. Rounds two and three are tomorrow and Wednesday, again at Forest Akers West.
Contact Nathaniel Bott at nbott@lsj.com and follow him on Twitter @Nathaniel_Bott
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Michigan State women's golf: Sixth after first day of regional
