STANFORD, Calif. (SMU) – Fueled by a 5-under par front nine, SMU Women’s Golf slid firmly into the top five of the Stanford Intercollegiate leaderboard after the first 18 holes of play. With 36 holes remaining across Saturday and Sunday, the Mustangs sit fourth at 1-over 285.
 
Fresh off her best finish as a Mustang on Tuesday in Georgia, Maelynn made sure to keep the momentum going on Friday. It was back-to-back birdies on No. 13 and No. 14, Kim’s fourth and fifth holes of the day, that turned the tide for the senior. One bogey on the front side was the only blemish as Kim dialed up birdies on No. 1, No. 3, No. 7 and No. 8 for a 3-under 32 and a 2-under 69 in the opening round.

Australian Celine Chen battled through Friday to finish with a 1-over 72. Three birdies and four bogeys left the senior tied for 26th with two rounds to play.

 

Despite a double bogey on the opening hole, Grace Jin showed her resiliency, fighting her way back on Friday. The Texas native carded 12 consecutive pars to right the ship before finding back-to-back birdies on No. 7 and No. 8. Jin finished with Chen at 1-over 72 and T26.

 

Joining the group at 1-over was sophomore Kirra St-Laurent. Three bogeys in her opening five holes meant St-Laurent turned at 39. However, a bogey-free 33 coming home saw her birdie No. 5 and No. 7 to post 72, joining Chen and Jin.

 

Once again, Yoonjeong Huh avoided the big number. The senior managed four birdies throughout the day in Stanford. Seven bogeys gave the Korean an opening 18-hole score of 3-over 74.

 

SMU will shift to a Hole 1 start on Saturday, beginning at 12:40 p.m. PT/2:40 p.m. CT.

 

INDIVIDUAL SCORES

T9. Maelynn Kim (-2) 69

T26. Celine Chen (+1) 72

T26. Grace Jin (+1) 72

T26. Kirra St-Laurent (+1) 72

T46. Yoonjeong Huh (+3) 74

 

TEAM LEADERBOARD

1.#12 Stanford (-13) 271

2. #4 Virginia (-8) 276

3. #2 USC (-1) 283

4. SMU (+1) 285

T5. Pepperdine (+3) 287

T5. #24 Kansas (+3) 287

T5. Northwestern (+3) 287

T8. #8 UCLA (+7) 291

T8. #17 Iowa State (+7) 291

10. UC Davis (+9) 293

11. Cal (+12) 296

12. San Jose State (+13) 297

13. Michigan (+14) 298

14. Colorado (+15) 299

15. Santa Clara (+17) 301

16. CSU Fullerton (+24) 308

17. Oregon State (+25) 309