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Georgia Clings to Lead Over Auburn at the NCAA Fall Preview

Sept. 23, 2006

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -

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Individual Results
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A total of 16 of the 18 programs competing at the 2006 Golf Daytona Beach NCAA Fall Preview posted lower scores in the second round at the LPGA International's Legends Course Saturday. First-round leader Georgia, however, was one of the two teams who recorded a higher team score in the second round as its lead shrunk from nine to four strokes over Auburn.

UCF, which is co-hosting the event with the Central Florida Sports Commission, shot five strokes better than Friday. Freshman Leigh Crosby (Athens, Ga./Oconee) led the Golden Knights with a 78 and is in a tie for 82nd at +19. Through two rounds, classmate Sara Hurwitch (Potomac Falls, Va./Dominion) ranks just ahead of Crosby in a tie for 70th at +15.

Georgia came into Saturday at +1, but posted a seven-over 295 to have the lead of nine shots drop to four. Auburn went +2 on the day to move to +12 for the tournament. Last year's NCAA Champion, Duke, made a giant leap, climbing from 11th place to third as it recorded the best team round of the day (288, E).

"(Our score) says a lot about our hard work in preparation for this tournament," said Georgia's Mallory Hetzel, who is in a tie for third individually at +1. "Today a couple people struggled but we still got one more day to keep the lead. I think everyone is still very confident. We had a couple of bad holes but no one had bad rounds. Some holes sneak up on you with their water hazards and big numbers can be made and we have to try and avoid that tomorrow.

"Today I played really well, but I didn't score like I wanted to. I hit the ball well, I gave myself a lot of chances to make birdies and shoot under par but I shot even. As a team, we go in to every tournament to win. We wouldn't go if we didn't think we could win. I think that's one of our best attributes is that we are always confident and we want to win. We don't look at it as `let's get a top three or a top five.' It's all or nothing for us."

Tennessee's Nicole Smith remained atop the individual leaderboard and is the only golfer to have a two-round score under par. She posted a 67 in round one and with a 75 Saturday, she sits at -2 with a 142. Virginia's Leah Wigger stands two shots behind at even par while four golfers posted a one-over through two days of action. Three players tied for the low round with a three-under 69: Tennessee's Marci Turner, Duke's Anna Grzbien and Auburn's Margaret Shirley.

"The conditions today were really good," said Smith after completing her final hole. "Compared to yesterday, it didn't work as well for me though. I'm going to try and play a lot better tomorrow, work on my swing and try to relax. But I'm really happy, I worked very hard before coming here and it's paid off.

"There's a lot of great players here and a lot of great schools. I think fall previews are really good because you get to a get a look at how everyone else is doing."

Wigger and Georgia's Taylor Leon have torn apart the par fives, with each shooting a five-under to lead the way in that department. Smith and her teammate, Marci Turner, are tied for the lead with nine birdies through two rounds of play.

Sunday's final round will be a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. on the Legends Course.

For the latest news and information on the Golden Knights, tickets or apparel log on to www.ucfathletics.com - the official site for UCF athletics. And check out http://www.golfstat.com for live scoring of this weekend's tournament.

Second Round at the 2006 Golf Daytona Beach NCAA Fall Preview (Par: 72)

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Leaderboard R1 R2 Total To Par1. Georgia 289 295 584 +82. Auburn 298 290 588 +123. Duke 306 288 594 +18T4. Virginia 303 295 598 +22T4. Arizona State 300 298 598 +22T4. Wake Forest 307 291 598 +227. Vanderbilt 302 297 599 +238. Tennessee 299 302 601 +259. UCLA 304 298 602 +2610. Arkansas 307 297 604 +28T11. Florida 305 300 605 +29T11. USC 304 301 605 +2913. Oklahoma St. 305 303 608 +3214. Texas A&M 314 298 612 +3615. Purdue 311 304 615 +3916. UNLV 315 304 619 +4317. California 320 302 622 +4618. UCF 331 326 657 +81

Top IndividualScores Team R1 R2 Total To Par1. Nicole Smith Tennessee 67 75 142 -22. Leah Wigger Virginia 71 73 144 ET3. Jacqui Concolino Vanderbilt 70 75 145 +1T3. Mallory Hetzel Georgia 73 72 145 +1T3. Taylor Leon Georgia 72 73 145 +1T3. Marci Turner Tennessee 76 69 145 +1T7. Mallory Blackwelder Florida 75 71 146 +2T7. Amanda Blumenherst Duke 72 74 146 +2T7. Anna Grzbien Duke 77 69 146 +2T7. Margaret Shirley Auburn 77 69 146 +2