Roller sets pace for Tulsa in opening round of AAC Championships

BROOKSVILLE, Fla. –– All five Tulsa golfers shot even-par or under in first-round action Monday at the 54-hole American Athletic Conference Championships for a team total of 7-under par 281 at the par-72 Southern Hills Plantation Club.

The Hurricane – with two freshmen, two sophomores and one senior – sits five strokes behind opening round leader SMU’s 276 score, while Houston (284), South Florida (284) and UCF (287) round out the top-five teams. Tulsa has four golfers among the top-10 scorers and its fifth just one stroke back in 16^th place.

“If you ask the girls, we didn’t hit it particularly well today. It wasn’t our best ball striking day, but their short games were spot on. They did a really good job around the green,” said Tulsa coach Annie Young. “They were really thorough in their preparation for the tournament and that shows maturity even though we have a young group.”

Tulsa freshman Jenni Roller, a Tulsa-area golfer from Jenks and Regent Prep High School, led the Hurricane with a 3-under par score of 69 and sits in fifth place after the first 18 holes. It was Roller’s first sub-70 round in 23 rounds of collegiate golf this season.

Roller had four birdies against one bogey in one of her most consistent rounds of her freshman year.

Sophomore Sydney Seigel sits one stroke behind Roller in a sixth-place tie with a score of 2-under 70. Seigel birdied four holes – Nos. 6, 7, 15 and 17 and had bogeys on two par-5 holes, Nos. 5 and 12.

Tulsa’s Lilly Thomas and Lovisa Gunnar are in a 10^th place tie after carding rounds of 1-under par 71. Thomas went 2-under on the front nine with brides at the par-4 fourth and sixth holes, while her lone bogey came on the par-4 10^th hole. Gunnar had three birdies (holes 5, 12 and 17) and two bogeys (holes 7 and 14) for her one-under total.

Freshman Grace Kilcrease scored an even-par 72 for 16^th place as she totaled even par for all but two holes. She bogeyed the fourth and evened her score a hole later with a birdie-putt on the par-5 fifth hole.

SMU grabbed the first-round lead behind the play of Michele Zhang and Ashley Chow, who combined to shoot 10-under par for the Mustangs. Zhang leads the individual standings with a 6-under par 66 total.

“SMU is extremely talented as are many teams in our conference, so we have to come ready to play,” Young said. “Our goal this week is to beat the golf course every day and if we can do that, we’ll have a really, really good week.”

Second round action convenes Tuesday morning with the final 18 holes scheduled for Wednesday.

TEAM RESULTS

1. SMU                                    276
2. Tulsa                                   281

T3.   Houston                             284

T3.  South Florida                   284

5. UCF                                      287
6.  East Carolina                    296
7. Tulane                                 301
8.  Cincinnati                          302
9. Wichita State                   303
10. Memphis                           304

TULSA INDIVIDUALS

5. Jenni Roller                       69 (-3)

T6.        Sydney Seigel                   70 (-2)

T10.     Lilly Thomas                      71 (-1)

T10.     Lovisa Gunnar                  71 (-1)

T16.     Grace Kilcrease                72 (E)

TOP-5 INDIVIDUALS

1. Michelle Zhang, SMU                      66 (-6)
2. Melanie Green                                  67 (-5)

T3.        Ashley Chow, SMU                           68 (-4)

T3.        Leonor Medeiros, USF                    68 (-4)

5.       Jenni Roller, Tulsa                           69 (-3)
   

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