April 4, 2011
HALF MOON BAY, Calif. --- Inspired by the dogged determination of Gary Blair's Aggie basketball team, Texas A&M golfer Natalie Reeves shook off a slow start to grab the individual lead and help the A&M women's golf team to the top of the team standings at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate on Monday at the Half Moon Bay Golf Links.
Reeves, a freshman from Euless Trinity High School, had a rough start to the day with a triple bogey-7 on her first hole of the day, but was inspired by the memory of the Aggie basketball team's run to the NCAA finals and rebounded to shoot even par for the 36-hole first day with rounds of 1-over 73 and 1 under 71. She enters the final round with a one-stroke lead over Northwestern's Lauren Weaver.
"They were an inspiration for sure," Reeves said. "I started out pretty rough, but I thought about (Sunday's national semifinal) game and that brought me back and kept me going." To show support of the Aggie hoops team's quest for the school's first NCAA Championships in women's basketball, the Aggie golf team will wear Blair's trademark "plus sign" that helps him remember to "stay positive" on their hands when they play the final round on Tuesday.
Reeves' strong first day helped push the Aggies to a five-stroke lead entering the final round. A&M was 20-over for the day with consecutive rounds of 10-over 298. Trailing the Aggies are Oregon and Long Beach State (+25), Colorado (+28), Texas Tech (+30), No. 17 UC Davis (+35), Northwestern (+37), San Jose State (+39), Fresno State (+41), UNLV (+45), Colorado State (+48) and San Francisco (+51).
"I'm proud of the girls, without a doubt," Aggie head coach Trelle McCombs said. "We left a few shots out there. There's never a coach that's going to be completely, 100 percent satisfied. But I think I'm most proud of them for turning it around on the back nine (of the second round). They really made a surge down the stretch. We went from challenging for the top spot in the standings to having a sizable lead, so we'll see what happens tomorrow."
McCombs praised the play of Reeves, who offset the opening-hole triple bogey and six other bogeys with nine birdies in the first two rounds. "Natalie has shown improvement in every single tournament," McCombs said. "Her composure at every tournament has been awesome, just awesome. It's fun for a coach to watch that as she progresses. Watching Natalie play golf is always interesting and never boring so to watch her maintain her composure like that is something special."
Joining Reeves in the top 25 of the individual standings were freshman Sarah Beth Davis. Ruzickova stands in a tie for seventh at 5-over after shooting rounds of 73 and 76. Zwartynski is tied for 17th at 7-over after rounds of 75 and 76. Davis is tied for 21st at 8-over after firing rounds of 77 and 75. Sophomore Aly Smith is tied for 61st after rounds of 79 and 83, and sophomore Susy Grunden, who is playing as an individual, is tied for 31st with rounds of 78 and 77.
The Aggies will be seeking their first team win of the year on Tuesday.
"We'll take whatever comes to us," McCombs said. "We're hoping for great weather, but we hear the wind might blow. That's what we practice in, so secretly my girls probably want it to blow because that's what they are used to and play well in. We'll take it one shot at a time."