March 4, 2013
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Washington finished the first two rounds of action on Monday for the Judi Inkster Invitational in third place out of 14 teams, 12 shots back of tournament leader Stanford. The Huskies ended the day at 14-over par (590) after 36 holes of play at Almaden Golf and Country Club. The No. 9 Huskies have three golfers in the top-11 individually heading into Tuesday's final 18 holes of play. Charlotte Thomas (+2, T6th), Jennifer Yang (+3, T8th) and SooBin Kim (+4, T11th) all had even-par or better second rounds to help the Huskies shoot 2-over 290 - the second lowest score of the day turned in by any team. Washington combined to shoot 300 in the morning round. Stanford shot 287 and 291 at the par-72, 6,180-yard course to finish the day at +2. California is second after shooting 291 and 296 (+11). Afterwards, Husky Coach Mary Lou Mulflur felt her team is still in contention at just three shots back of the Bears for second and Stanford, still within reach at the top of the leader board.
"We have a chance," she said of her Huskies who entered the tournament as the highest ranked team. "We'd have to play really well because Stanford is playing good and so is Cal. We've got our work cut out for us, but we didn't make a lot of putts today. "We're hoping tomorrow is our day to make putts." The morning round of 300 saw all five Huskies shoot over par. Freshman Ying Luo shot 2-over 74 to lead UW, while Yang and Cyd Okino shot 75. The surprise for Mulflur was that Kim and Thomas, ranked 9th and 33rd respectively by Golfweek.com, would shoot 76. "Who would have thought Charlotte and SooBin would both shoot 4-over in the first round?" Mulflur asked. "That is about as bad as they have played all year. They have been pretty much impeccable as far as playing well and giving us a number that is going to help us go low." The afternoon saw a resurgence for the Huskies top-two ranked players. Thomas shot 2-under par 70 with three birdies and one bogey, and Kim had four birdies and four bogeys to settle for even-par 72. Kim was 3-under after four holes of play in the afternoon. "I'm really proud of them," Mulflur said. "They both fought back hard in the afternoon which is becoming pretty routine for them ... that doesn't surprise me at all." Yang followed up her morning round with a solid 72. The sophomore had been struggling recently, so Mulflur was really glad to see Yang get going. "We have been waiting for a good round from her. Once she gets comfortable she's really a good player. She did get it going today and she especially played well in the afternoon. We just need to see that consistenly," Mulflur said. Okino shot 76 in the afternoon and Luo shot 77. They are is tied for 24th at +7. Stanford's Mariah Stackhouse, the Pac-12 Golfer of the Month for February, leads the field after shooting 3-under 141. She has a three shot lead over teammate Danielle Frasier. The tournament continues Tuesday morning with an 8:15 a.m. shotgun start.
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