Athens, Ga. - The Georgia State women's golf team opened play at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic with a first round 311 Friday afternoon on the par 72, 6,335-yard University of Georgia Golf Course. The team was led by duo junior Charlotte Lorentzen and freshman Solveig Helgesen, both shooting 77 in the most competitive event of the Panthers' regular season.
The Panthers struggled against an elite field comprised of some of the most talented teams in the nation, over half of which possess a top-25 ranking. Amongst the stiff competition, Georgia State concluded the first day of strokeplay in a tie for 22nd place with Chattanooga.
In a deviation from the usual format, all five golfers from Georgia State played together on each hole aside from being grouped with golfers from opposing teams with whom to play the links. A second change to the standard rules was that a team's score for each hole would be determined by the low four scores on that hole. This alteration was designed to promote a better "team" atmosphere and allowed each player the chance to contribute to the overall score.
Helgesen's opening round 5-over 77 represents her career-best first round, bettering her previous low opening round by one stroke. The freshman from Hagavik, Norway landed back-to-back birdies on holes 10 and 11 and finished the day's competition tied for 42nd place.
Lorentzen also collected two birdies on her way to a first round 77. She shares a portion of 42nd place entering day two at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic.
Junior Charlotte Guilleux maintained even par through the first six holes but then found trouble with five bogeys and a double bogey to shoot 7-over 79. She stands in a tie for 78th place with 36 holes to play.
Rounding out the Panthers' line-up, freshman Laura Sanchez shot an opening round 84 and redshirt-junior Cherishton Brett carded a 93.
Purdue, ranked fifth in the country, leads the field with a first round 4-under 284. The Boilermakers lead No. 2 Alabama by two strokes. Host No. 13 Georgia and No. 4 Duke stand in a tie for third place at 3-over followed by Florida State one stroke behind to round out the top five.
In the individual competition, Duke's Aleja Cangrejo and Florida State's Hannah Thomson share the top spot, both firing a first round 2-under 70. Numa Gulyanamitta of Purdue sits in third place trailing the leaders by one stroke. In a three-way tie for fourth place at even par are Purdue's Laura Gonzalez, North Carolina's Casey Grice and Kennesaw State's Hayley Clinning.
Georgia State will return to the course Saturday morning with a 9:30 a.m. shotgun start. Live stats are available via GolfStat.com. Full recaps of each round will be posted at GeorgiaStateSports.com when play concludes for the day.
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