DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The LIU Brooklyn women's golf team played 21 strokes better as a team to move into third place after two rounds at the 2018 Northeast Conference Championships. Playing to the second best team score of the day (321), the Blackbirds jumped up two spots from fifth place going into the final day on the Hills Course at LPGA International. Sunday's action in Daytona Beach is scheduled to begin at 7:40 a.m., with the Blackbirds in the leader group teeing off at 8:30 a.m.
Three Blackbirds, junior Lauren Rutherglen and sophomores Carolina Ronchel and
Rebeca Pardos each shot a six-over 79 on day two to lead the squad. The 79s stood as the tied as the fourth lowest round by the entire field of 35 players. All five LIU golfers fared better in the second round, than the opening day.
Rutherglen continues to pace the team in the overall standings in fourth place at 6-over (159), shooting 80 on Friday and a 79 on Saturday. In fact, no player in the field shot in the 70s each of the first two days, as Rutherglen is only one stroke off of third place and five off of the lead (154). She only had one birdie on the day, a deuce at the par-3 seventh hole, but finished the round strong closing out with four consecutive pars.
Ronchel rebounded from her day one performance to get back into the top ten, as she stands in ninth place at 17-over (163). On Saturday, Ronchel also had a strong back nine, finishing the last six holes at 2-under for a back nine score of 2-over par (39).
Pardos also had an excellent finish to her day, after starting out 5-over after six holes, she played one over par for the final 12 holes, which includes two birdies. Pardos also played the back nine at 2-over and now is tied for 19th place at 22-over (168).
Sophomore
Aida Gonzalez is next on the Blackbirds, tied for 21st place at 27-over par (173) after shooting an 84 on Saturday, five strokes better than her Friday opening round. Junior
Sara Ciliberto played six shots better on Saturday than her opening round with an 85 and is right behind in a tie for 24th place (30-over, 176).
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Fans will be able to track the Blackbirds' progress over the weekend via Golfstat Live Stats.