March 30, 2012
TEMPE, Ariz. - Senior Sadena Parks shot 2-under 69 and is tied for 7th among 90 golfers after the first round of the PING/ASU Invitational. Her performance on Friday carried the Huskies, who are 14th out of 17 teams after combining to shoot 298 (+14) at the par-71, 6,121-yard Karsten Golf Course. Parks, competing in just her second tournament this spring after sitting out to concentrate on academics, had four birdies and just two bogeys during her round. "It's good to get her back to where we are used to seeing her," said Husky Coach Mary Lou Mulflur of her senior from Bethel, Wash. "That was a really positive sign, not only for her, but for everybody. It says, 'I'M BACK...with a vengence." She bogeyed her first hole of the day - No. 10 - before a four birdie stretch from holes 13 through 1 put her 3-under. Parks maintained that score until a bogey on No. 6 put her at -2 for the day, where she would ultimately end up.
"She just hit it really solid," Mulflur said about Parks' round. "She never got herself in trouble and she putted well." Parks missed the first two events of the spring and came out the gates rusty in her return two weeks ago at the Battle at Rancho Bernardo. Over her first 27 holes she was 17-over par, but since then has played 2-under par golf over the last 27 holes. "(For her) it was just getting back out there. She hadn't played for awhile," said Mulflur. "Her first 27 holes weren't that good, but from there, it just kind of kicked in." Parks was the only UW golfer under par. She was five shots better than the next closest Husky, Jennifer Yang. Yang shot 3-over 74 and is tied for 43rd. SooBin Kim shot 75 and is tied for 52nd. Kelli Bowers and Brittany Tallman each shot 80 and are tied for 86th. Luckily for the Huskies, they have two days and 36 holes to make up some ground on the rest of the field. Host Arizona State leads everyone after shooting 4-under 280. UCLA and Stanford are four shots back and tied for second after shooting 284. Bethany Calvo of UNLV and Justine Lee of Arizona State each shot 67 (-4) to tie for the first round lead. Four golfers shot 3-under 68 and are tied for third. Parks and ASU's Laura Blanco are the only two golfers at -2. The Huskies will tee off from No. 10 on Saturday once again and are paired with Oklahoma State and San Diego State.
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