Sept. 15, 2008

DENTON, Texas -- The Lamar women's golf team jumped out to a first round lead before dropping into fourth place after the first day of the North Texas Fall Classic at Robson Ranch on Monday.

Central Arkansas fired a 605 and holds a six shot lead over Cal Poly at 611. UTSA is in third at 614 - six strokes ahead of Lamar at 302-318--620.

Lamar turned in the second-lowest team totals among the par 4s and par 5s but struggled on the par3s, scoring 17-over-par to rank eighth among the nine teams. Lamar's 15 birdies through 36 holes does lead the tourney field.

Linda Persson and Lina Nilsson-Balfe emerged with the lowest 36-hole scores for the Cardinals as both players were among the top ten. Persson's rounds of 75-77 put her at 152 and five shots out of first, which is held by UCAs Nicole Forshner and Rebecca Sorensen. Nilsson-Balfe is a shot behind Persson after recording a 76-77--153 total.

Therese Nilsson stands in a tie for 19t place with a 156 total. The senior opened the day with an even-par 72 and stood in second place before posting an 84 that was not used in the afternoon team score. She did have five birdies on the day and had the third-lowest score on the par 4s at 4.20.

Channing Norton and Jannel Alexander are tied for 34th at 162. Norton had a pair of 81s while Alexander opened her collegiate career with a 79 and 83.

The 54-hole tournament concludes on Tuesday with the final round which will get underway with a shotgun start at 8 a.m.

Team Scoring
1. Central Arkansas 304-301=605 +29
2. Cal Poly 304-307=611 +35
3. Texas-San Antonio 309-305=614 +38
4. Lamar 302-318=620 +44
5. Houston Baptist 312-309=621 +45
6. McLennan CC 311-322=633 +57
7. North Texas 318-317=635 +59
8. Lubbock Christian 321-319=640 +64
9. Utah Valley 321-331=652 +76

Lamar Scores
T-7 Linda Persson 75-77=152
T-10 Lina Nilsson-Balfe 76-77=153
T-19 Therese Nilsson 72-84=156
T-34 Channing Norton 81-81=162
T-34 Jannel Alexander 79-83=162