KANE'OHE, Hawai'i – Texas A&M's Courtney Dow and Amber Park occupy the top two spots on the leaderboard at the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational after the opening day of play Tuesday. The Aggie women's golf team is in third place as a team after 36 holes at the Kaneohe Klipper Golf Club.
Dow and Park are the only golfers in the 75-player field who are at least even par through two trips around the par 72 / 6,096-yard course. Dow had the best round of the tournament, a 4-under 68 in the opening round, and leads with a 2-under 142. Park is in second place at even-par 144, and co-leads the field with seven birdies.
At 19-over, Texas A&M is in third place, and only seven strokes behind leader No. 2 Texas. Texas A&M has won the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational five times previously, and produced this event's medalist in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
"We had to battle some difficult conditions today," said head coach Andrea Gaston of a day that only saw five of 147 scorecards end up under par. "It was great to see our players fighting to stay in it, and not let a few bad shots take us in the wrong direction."
Texas A&M's Ava Schwienteck is tied for 27th at 9-over, in line for her third top-30 finish of the season. Aggie freshmen Katie Finley and Brooke Tyree each finished their day with birdies on two of their last three holes, with Finley tied for 57th at 15-over and Tyree sitting in 60th at 16-over.
Competing as individuals, A&M's Elizabeth Caldarelli is tied for 43rd at 12-over, Chloe Velasco is tied for 53rd at 14-over and Ariana Saenz is tied for 72nd at 28-over.
"The key to having a chance tomorrow is getting all five players off to a strong start," said Gaston. "With windy and rainy conditions, a lot can happen over 18 holes."
The final round of the 54-hole event tees off at 1 p.m. CT Wednesday. Live scoring is available on golfstat.com.
Dow and Park are the only golfers in the 75-player field who are at least even par through two trips around the par 72 / 6,096-yard course. Dow had the best round of the tournament, a 4-under 68 in the opening round, and leads with a 2-under 142. Park is in second place at even-par 144, and co-leads the field with seven birdies.
At 19-over, Texas A&M is in third place, and only seven strokes behind leader No. 2 Texas. Texas A&M has won the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational five times previously, and produced this event's medalist in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
"We had to battle some difficult conditions today," said head coach Andrea Gaston of a day that only saw five of 147 scorecards end up under par. "It was great to see our players fighting to stay in it, and not let a few bad shots take us in the wrong direction."
Texas A&M's Ava Schwienteck is tied for 27th at 9-over, in line for her third top-30 finish of the season. Aggie freshmen Katie Finley and Brooke Tyree each finished their day with birdies on two of their last three holes, with Finley tied for 57th at 15-over and Tyree sitting in 60th at 16-over.
Competing as individuals, A&M's Elizabeth Caldarelli is tied for 43rd at 12-over, Chloe Velasco is tied for 53rd at 14-over and Ariana Saenz is tied for 72nd at 28-over.
"The key to having a chance tomorrow is getting all five players off to a strong start," said Gaston. "With windy and rainy conditions, a lot can happen over 18 holes."
The final round of the 54-hole event tees off at 1 p.m. CT Wednesday. Live scoring is available on golfstat.com.