SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — UTSA junior Camryn Carreon is in the top 20 individuals after the first round of stroke play at the NCAA Women's Golf Championships, which teed off on Friday at Grayhawk Golf Club's Raptor Course (par 72/6,384 yards).
The first Roadrunner to advance past an NCAA Regional, Carreon carded a 1-over-par 73 and is part of a nine-way tie for 18th place in the 132-player field. The San Antonio native is five shots off the pace of 4-under set by Stanford's Rose Zhang, the top-ranked collegiate player, and she sits one stroke out of a tie for sixth place at even par. Carreon, the tournament's No. 8-seeded individual is second among the dozen individuals in the field behind only Furman's Anna Morgan (E).
"Very solid play from Camryn today," two-time Conference USA Coach of the Year Summer Batiste said. "We knew that the wind was going to pick up for the afternoon waves, so our goal was to stay disciplined in picking great lines from tee to green. She did a great job of staying the course while using her short game to keep the momentum going throughout the round. There are a lot of great takeaways from today that we look to carrying into the weekend."
Starting her round on No. 10, Carreon had to settle for a bogey-five on her opening hole. She then reeled off four consecutive pars before posting her first birdie of the day with a three on the 415-yard 15th. Following a par on No. 16 and a bogey on the next hole, she closed with a four on the 467-yard, par-5 18th.
Carreon bounced back from her third bogey — a five on the 380-yard first — with a par followed by her third birdie of the round, a three on the 392-yard third. She closed the side with five pars and a bogey on No. 5 to end up 1-over par on her second nine.
The second round is scheduled for Saturday and Carreon will tee off from No. 1 at 10:31 a.m. CT. Following the third round on Sunday, the top nine individuals not on one of the 15 advancing teams will advance to the final round on Monday to determine the 72-hole individual champion.
-UTSA-
