Monday, May 8, 2023

DALLAS, Tex. – At the end of the first day of the 2023 NCAA Women’s Golf West Regional, Northwest Nazarene’s Elle McCord leads all GNAC golfers.

After leading the conference for much of the season, McCord is in a tie for 38th with a score of 7-over-par 77 to open the regional at the Golf Club of Dallas in Dallas, Texas. The reigning GNAC Women’s Golf Newcomer of the year opened the day strong on the back nine, shooting 2-over-par with a birdie on hole 14 before a challenging front nine.

The No. 6 seeded individual golfer in the tournament, McCord is fifth among individual competitors. She is two strokes ahead of Angelo State’s Maria Sierra Sanz and two strokes behind Biola’s Brady Turnquist. Her opening round of 77 puts her exactly 10 strokes behind day-one leader Julia Grosspietsch of Cal State East Bay.

Simon Fraser is 12th after round one of the West Regional with a score of 322. Freshman Izzy Ferguson is leading the way for the GNAC Champions in a three-way tie for 42nd. Ferguson opened her debut NCAA Regional with a round of 8-over-par 78, just one stroke back from McCord. Ferguson benefitted from a relatively steady day-one performance, finishing both the front and back nine 4-over-par.

Junior Shirin Anjarwalla is right behind Ferguson with a score of 9-over-par 79 in a six-way tie for 46th. Meera Minhas makes it two freshmen in the scoring four for the Red Leafs in a tie for 53rd with a score of 10-over-par 80. Rounding out the scoring effort for SFU on day one is junior Natasha Kozlowski in 65th.

Up at the front, West Texas A&M leads with an opening round of 2-over-par 282 followed by Cal State San Marcos four strokes back in second. Host Dallas Baptist is fourth with a score of 7-over-par 287.

The NCAA West Regionals will continue tomorrow with the first pairings teeing off at 8:00 a.m. (Central).