Anna Scott's 76 (+6) helped her to hold on to a top ten standing and led the 36th-ranked (Golfweek) Georgia State women's golf team to a fifth of 16 finish at the end of the first day of play Monday at the SunTrust Lady Gator Invitational during a difficult scoring day at the par 70, 5,954 yard Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, Fla.
Scott's 76 came on the heels of a morning round of 73 placing her eighth overall at 73-76?149 (+9).
The Panthers faced difficult course conditions on day one, which will likely remain as difficult for tomorrow's final round. Currently, Gainesville, Fla. is under a fire weather warning. The dry course coupled with high winds have pushed the scoring well above par. Tomorrow's forecast is another dry day with winds between 15 and 25 miles per hour.
Freshman Charlotte Lorentzen moved up the leaderboard significantly in the second round by carding a 74, taking her from 25th to ninth. Lorentzen's scorecard from Monday finishes 76-74?150 (+10).
As a team, Georgia State followed a morning 307 with a 305 for a 612 (+52). The Panthers moved from seventh to fifth in the afternoon, now trailing seventh-ranked Alabama and 10th-ranked Duke by nine strokes.
With the leaders at +43, 32nd-ranked Florida (+46) and sixth-ranked Auburn (+51) are all that stand between Georgia State and the top spot looking forward to the final round.
Also scoring for the Panthers was junior Cathrine Madsen, whose 80-76?156 (+16) puts her 33rd, bouncing back from a difficult morning round.
Sandra Maier turned in a pair of 79s to finish the day at +18, in 48th position. Iliska Verwey posted a 79-82?161 (+21) for 56th position, and Claire Starkie finished Monday at 73-84?157 (+17), as an individual, in 40th place.
Alabama's 18th-ranked Kathleen Ekey and Florida State's Whitney Wenglasz share the lead at +4 after 36 holes in the individual competition.
The Panthers can be followed live tomorrow with hole-by-hole scoring at www.GolfStat.com. The final round will begin Tuesday with an 8:00 a.m. shotgun start. Full results and stories will be available at www.GeorgiaStateSports.com when play comes to a close.
