KirkwoodGolf: ROOKIE LAURA FIRST-ROUND LEADER AS FUTURES TOUR TEES OFF

Friday, March 25, 2011

ROOKIE LAURA FIRST-ROUND LEADER AS FUTURES TOUR TEES OFF

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE LPGA FUTURES TOUR
WINTER HAVEN, Florida: Rookie Laura Nochta admitted to a nervous start in her first round of her first season on the LPGA Futures Tour. But by the end of today’s opening round of the $110,000 Florida’s Natural Charity Classic, the recent Indiana University grad held a one-shot lead at 5-under 67.

“I was so nervous on the first tee, but I had no expectations,” said Nochta, 23, of Cortland, Ohio. “I had to remind myself that this was the same course I played yesterday, that it hasn’t changed since yesterday and that I know how to play it.”

Indeed she did. The rookie produced a bogey-free round that included three birdies, 15 greens in regulation and an eagle-2 on the par-four 14th hole that featured a holed-out wedge from 105 yards.

Tied for second in the season opener at Lake Region Yacht and Country Club were former LPGA Tour members Cathryn Bristow of Auckland, New Zealand and Leah Wigger of Louisville, Kentucky, both at 4-under 68.

Bristow rolled in birdies on two of her first four holes and hit eight of nine greens in regulation on her first nine holes. But the New Zealander was forced to scramble when she made the turn to the front nine, hitting only three greens and carding two birdies and a bogey.

A 2008 tournament winner on the Futures Tour and a two-year LPGA Tour member, Wigger birdied three of her first six holes and added a final birdie on the 18th hole in her bogey-free round. She credited solid ball striking today and 17 greens in regulation for moving her up the leaderboard.

“After LPGA Q-school last year, it was a blow to my ego to lose my card, but the more I thought about it, coming here was a chance to regain some confidence and learn to relax a little more,” said Wigger. “I was nervous today, but the results worked out and I’m very happy.”

Five players are tied for fourth at 3-under 69. In that group are Jennifer Johnson of Carlsbad, Calif., Jackie Barenborg of Vero Beach, Calif., Tzu-Chi Lin of Taichung, Taiwan, Tiffany Joh of San Diego and Amelia Lewis of Jacksonville, Florida

Eight players are tied for ninth at 2-under 70.

A total of 25 players carded rounds under par today with 43 players finishing at even-par 72 or better.
Weather: Sunny with temperatures in the mid-80s and a slight breeze.
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 72 (36-36). Yardage 6,184
1    Laura Nochta (Cortland, Ohio)                      34-33 - 67
2    Cathryn Bristow (Auckland, New Zealand)            34-34 - 68
     Leah Wigger (Louisville, Ky.)                      33-35 - 68

4    Jennifer Johnson (Carlsbad, Calif.)                35-34 - 69
     Jackie Barenborg (Vero Beach, Fla.)                35-34 - 69
     Tzu-Chi Lin (Taichung, Taiwan)                     35-34 - 69
     Tiffany Joh (San Diego, Calif.)                    36-33 - 69
     Amelia Lewis (Jacksonville, Fla.)                  35-34 - 69

9    Chelsea Curtis (New Seabury, Mass.)                37-33 - 70
     Lene Krog (Lier, Norway)                           36-34 - 70
     Stephanie Na (Adelaide, Australia)                 37-33 - 70
     Paz Echeverria (Santiago, Chile)                   33-37 - 70
     Kitty Hwang (Guayaquil, Ecuador)                   35-35 - 70
     Mo Martin (Altadena, Calif.)                       36-34 - 70
     Jodi Ewart (North Yorkshire, England)              36-34 - 70
     Katie Kempter (Albuquerque, N.M.)                  37-33 - 70

17   Lili Alvarez (Durango, Mexico)                     33-38 - 71
     Yu-Ling Hsieh (Taipei, Taiwan)                     38-33 - 71
     Leanne Bowditch (Queensland, Australia)            35-36 - 71
     Benedikte Grotvedt (Nesbru, Norway)                35-36 - 71
     Jenny Gleason (Clearwater, Fla.)                   37-34 - 71
     Kirby Dreher (Fort St. John, Canada)               36-35 - 71
     Haru Nomura (Tokyo, Japan)                         35-36 - 71
     Garrett Phillips (St. Simons Island, Ga.)          35-36 - 71
     Nannette Hill (Pelham, N.Y.)                       36-35 - 71

26   Ashli Bunch (Morristown, Tenn.)                    36-36 - 72
     Cara Freeman (San Tan Valley, Ariz.)               35-37 - 72
     Kyle Roig (a) (San Juan, Puerto Rico)              35-37 - 72
     Erica Moston (Belmont, Calif.)                     37-35 - 72
     Jennifer Hong (Granger, Ind.)                      37-35 - 72
     Kelly Froelich (Raizeux, France)                   37-35 - 72
     Molly Aronsson (Shelburne, Vt.)                    37-35 - 72
     Candace Schepperle (Birmingham, Ala.)              37-35 - 72
     Hannah Jun (San Diego, Calif.)                     36-36 - 72
     Brittany Johnston (Akron, Ohio)                    37-35 - 72
     Caroline Westrup (Ahus, Sweden)                    35-37 - 72
     Jessi Gebhardt (Chandler, Ariz.)                   37-35 - 72
     Juli Erekson (Chicopee, Mass.)                     38-34 - 72
     Ayaka Kaneko (Honolulu, Hawaii)                    38-34 - 72
     Kim Augusta (Rumford, R.I.)                        35-37 - 72
     Stephanie Connelly (Pasadena, Md.)                 38-34 - 72
     Angela Buzminski (Oshawa, Ontario)                 39-33 - 72
     Tracy Stanford (Midland, Texas)                    38-34 - 72

44   Mallory Fraiche (Metairie, La.)                    37-36 - 73
     Nicole Jeray (Berwyn, Ill.)                        36-37 - 73
     Jaclyn Burch (Melbourne, Fla.)                     36-37 - 73
     Eileen Vargas (Ibague, Colombia)                   38-35 - 73
     Jenny Suh (Fairfax, Va.)                           36-37 - 73
     Sophia Sheridan (Guadalajara, Mexico)              37-36 - 73
     Jenny Kim (Los Angeles, Calif.)                    37-36 - 73
     Laura Bavaird (Grosse Ile, Mich.)                  37-36 - 73
     Stefanie Kenoyer (a) (Lighthouse Point, Fla.)      38-35 - 73
     Hannah Yun (Bradenton, Fla.)                       36-37 - 73
     Jamie Hullett (Mesquite, Texas)                    36-37 - 73
     Dawn Shockley (Estes Park, Colo.)                  34-39 - 73
     Izzy Beisiegel (St. Hilaire, Quebec)               38-35 - 73

57   Esther Choe (Scottsdale, Ariz.)                    38-36 - 74
     Kylene Pulley (Kokomo, Ind.)                       38-36 - 74
     Sydnee Michaels (Temecula, Calif.)                 38-36 - 74
     Victoria Elizabeth (Dayton, Ohio)                  36-38 - 74
     Abby Bools (Hickory, N.C.)                         38-36 - 74
     Sydney Cox (Edmond, Okla.)                         38-36 - 74
     Marina Choi (Los Angeles, Calif.)                  38-36 - 74
     Hana Kim (Los Angeles, Calif.)                     38-36 - 74
     Laura Crawford (Lancaster, S.C.)                   39-35 - 74
     Miriam Nagl (Berlin, Germany)                      38-36 - 74
     Sarah Brown (Lopatcong, N.J.)                      38-36 - 74
     Maria Laura Elvira (Buenos Aires, Argentina)       40-34 - 74
     Whitney Wade (Glasgow, Ky.)                        37-37 - 74
     Pamela Ontiveros (Gomez Palacio, Mexico)           39-35 - 74
     Robyn Kim (Cypress, Calif.)                        38-36 - 74
     Rebecca Kim (Tigard, Ore.)                         36-38 - 74
     Erika Malik (Hinsdale, Ill.)                       36-38 - 74
     Seul Ki Park (Northbrook, Ill.)                    38-36 - 74
     Kendall Dye (Edmond, Okla.)                        38-36 - 74
     Jean Reynolds (Newnan, Ga.)                        37-37 - 74
     Vanessa Vela (Bogota, Colombia)                    37-37 - 74
     Ashley Prange (Noblesville, Ind.)                  37-37 - 74
     Jessica Shepley (Oakville, Ontario)                40-34 - 74
     Lauren Doughtie (Suffolk, Va.)                     38-36 - 74

81   Carolina Llano (Medellin, Colombia)                39-36 - 75
     Kristin Ingram (Pasadena, Calif.)                  37-38 - 75
     Kelly Jacques (Longmont, Colo.)                    40-35 - 75
     Rachael Schmidt (Elk River, Minn.)                 38-37 - 75
     Olivia Jordan-Higgins (Channel Islands, UK)        37-38 - 75
     Christina Jones (Jensen Beach, Fla.)               37-38 - 75
     Lucy Nunn (Lawton, Okla.)                          37-38 - 75
     Melissa Eaton-Jackson (Port Shepstone, South Afric 38-37 - 75
     Naomi Kim (Seoul, South Korea)                     37-38 - 75
     Blair Lamb (Flat Rock, N.C.)                       38-37 - 75
     Annie Brophy (Spokane, Wash.)                      38-37 - 75
     Veronica Felibert (Caracas, Venezuela)             40-35 - 75
     Jutta Degerman (Kaunianinen, Finland)              39-36 - 75
     Briana Vega (Andover, Mass.)                       37-38 - 75
     Christine Cho (Kent, Wash.)                        37-38 - 75
     Marcela Leon (Monterrey, Mexico)                   40-35 - 75
     Seema Sadekar (Toronto, Ontario)                   37-38 - 75
     Min Seo Kwak (Seoul, South Korea)                  37-38 - 75
     Victoria Park (Irvine, Calif.)                     37-38 - 75
     Nina Rodriguez (San Jose, Calif.)                  38-37 - 75
     Britney Choy (Wahiawa, Hawaii)                     39-36 - 75

102  Danielle Downey (Spencerport, N.Y.)                39-37 - 76
     Lisa Strom (Huntersville, N.C.)                    36-40 - 76
     Noon Huachai (Bangkok, Thailand)                   39-37 - 76
     Ashley Medders (Alma, Ga.)                         40-36 - 76
     Lauren Hunt (Little River, S.C.)                   39-37 - 76
     Elizabeth Dotson (White Bluff, Tenn.)              36-40 - 76
     Stephanie Kim (Bayside, N.Y.)                      41-35 - 76
     Kathleen Ekey (Sharon Township, Ohio)              39-37 - 76
     Valentine Derrey (Paris, France)                   39-37 - 76
     Elise Swartout (Ann Arbor, Mich.)                  35-41 - 76
     Sophie Jang (Seoul, South Korea)                   40-36 - 76
     Sofie Andersson (Angelholm, Sweden)                40-36 - 76
     Whitney Wright (Orlando, Fla.)                     38-38 - 76
     Junko Nakada (Fukushima, Japan)                    36-40 - 76
     Dolores White (Lakeland, Fla.)                     40-36 - 76

117  Alison Whitaker (Melbourne, Australia)             41-36 - 77
     Juliana Murcia Ortiz (Bogota, Colombia)            40-37 - 77
     Meredith Duncan (Shreveport, La.)                  39-38 - 77
     Lisa Ferrero (Lodi, Calif.)                        39-38 - 77
     Amy Eneroth (Spokane, Wash.)                       41-36 - 77
     Ashley Smith (Calgary, Alberta)                    36-41 - 77
     Madeleine Holmblad (Stockholm, Sweden)             36-41 - 77

124  Whitney Myers (York, Pa.)                          38-40 - 78
     Xyra Suyetsugu (Honolulu, Hawaii)                  39-39 - 78
     Susan Nam (Edmonton, Alberta)                      35-43 - 78
     Lyndsay McBride (Elkhart, Ind.)                    40-38 - 78

128  Heather Angell (Winston-Salem, N.C.)               43-36 - 79
     Kelsey Verbeten (New Franken, Wis.)                41-38 - 79
     Laura Kueny (Whitehall, Mich.)                     41-38 - 79
     Tiffany Tavee (Tempe, Ariz.)                       41-38 - 79
     Carrie Riordan (Spring Valley, Ill.)               37-42 - 79
     Sofi Toccafondi (Del Viso, Argentina)              39-40 - 79
     Elisa Serramia (Barcelona, Spain)                  39-40 - 79
     Nicole Smith (Riverside, Calif.)                   40-39 - 79

136  Karlin Beck (a) (Pike Road, Ala.)                  42-38 - 80
     Nikki Hadd (Crestview, Fla.)                       39-41 - 80

138  Carling Coffing (Middletown, Ohio)                 42-39 - 81
     Erika Ilagan (Cypress, Calif.)                     42-39 - 81

140  Yi-Yu Cheng (Taichung, Taiwan)                     41-41 - 82
     Mesha Levister (Louisburg, N.C.)                   40-42 - 82

142  Danielle Mills (Pointe-Claire, Quebec)             44-39 - 83

143  Nicole Forshner (Banff, Canada)                    46-40 - 86
     Laura Jansone (Jurmala, Latvia)                    46-40 - 86



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