KAILUA, Hawaii – Led by senior Kristen Rue and freshman Alivia Brown, the Washington State women's golf team had a solid day one of the Pac-12 Preview at Nanea Golf Club.
The Cougar duo each finished the 36-hole day at 1-under on the Par-73 course and in a five-way tie for fourth. There are 19 players in the 60-player field who are currently ranked in the nation's top 100. Only UCLA's Alison Lee, ranked 12th, performed better than Rue and Brown. Lee is the tournament leader at 9-under.
As a team, Washington State is in fifth place in the 12-team field at 12-over par. All 11 Pac-12 schools that sponsor women's golf (Utah does not) and Hawaii make up the participants. With 18 holes to play, the Cougars are ahead of five teams ranked in the top 40 nationally, including a one-stroke advantage over No. 2 USC.
"I'm proud of the team's play today," Cougar Head Coach Kelli Kamimura said. "It is so much fun to watch their hard work pay off. They continue to show so much growth and improvement."
Washington, ranked sixth, is the tournament leader at 9-under, followed by No. 7 UCLA at 1-under. Third-ranked Stanford and No. 13 Arizona are just ahead of Washington State at 10-over and 11-over, respectively.
The Cougars fired a 3-under, 289 in the first round, one of only four rounds under par during the first day. Washington State was in third place after round one before slipping two spots in the afternoon.
Starting on hole 13, Brown made six birdies in a seven-hole stretch (2 through 8) and finished with a 5-under 68 in the first round, tied for the tournament lead. She was even through 17 holes of her second round (2 birdies, 2 bogeys) before a quadruple-bogey on hole 12 dropped her on the leaderboard.
Rue was consistent throughout the day with a 72 and 73. She made seven birdies and 23 pars during the first two rounds. Lindsay Harmon (+11, Tied-45th), Rachel Lewis (+12, Tied-49th) and Bree Wanderschied (+14, Tied-53rd) rounded out the Cougar scoring.
The third and final round is set to tee off, Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. Pacific/7:30 a.m. Hawaii.
