Story by UNK Athletic Communications
The Nebraska-Kearney women’s golf team shot an 18-hole school-record of 289 on the first day of the 2023 NCAA Central Regional Monday in Larchwood, Ia.
The nine-team, 54-hole event is being held at the par 72 (6,095 yards) The Falls at Grand Falls Casino. The top three squads, and the top two individuals not on one of those teams, advance to the NCAA Championships later this month in St. Louis.
On a picture-perfect spring day, the Lopers saw Kansas junior Allison Comer shoot a career-best 2-under 70 (34-36), Arizona senior Paige Lucero have five birdies en route to a career-best 72 (36-36) and Kansas sophomore Brooke King have a hole-in-one on the par 3 eighth hole (145 yards) to post a 72. Additionally, Puerto Rico senior Faviola Gonzalez had three birdies to shoot a 75 with Colombian sophomore Juliana Botero Molina at two birdies and 10 pars to be at a 77.
Comer is in second place, two shots behind Northwest Missouri’s Paige Hoffman, with King and Lucero tied for fourth and Gonzalez tied for 19th place. In the team race, UNK has a five-stroke lead over 41st-ranked Augustana with 43rd-ranked Rogers State (295) and 4th-ranked Henderson State, Ark. (296) close behind.
The 289 bests the 290 the Lopers had at the regional preview in Missouri back in the fall and what the 2020-21 managed at the Grace Shin Memorial in Oklahoma. Prior to today, the top 18-hole score for a Loper in an NCAA event was a 72, shot by UNK Hall of Famer Carla Dobchuk at the 2001 NCAA Championships.
The average individual score today was a 75.78 with the Lopers carding 16 birdies and that one Eagle. Action resumes Tuesday morning.