PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – After a slow start on the back nine the UCF women's golf team picked up its pace on the front nine in the first round of the Palm Beach Gardens regional on Monday at PGA National Resort, posting a 300 (+12) score to tie for eighth place.
At the end of day one, the Knights sit 15 strokes shy of first place Michigan State (285, -3) and two strokes back from fifth place 298 (+10), which is the cut-off to advance to the national championship.
Junior Jess Baker led the charge for the Knights in the opening round, kicking things off with two birdies through her first five holes before settling down to shoot an even 72 par, tying her for 8th place.
Just one stroke behind Baker, Anna Nordfors turned in a two-over-74 score to tie for 16th place. The Sweden native recorded three birdies through 18 holes of play.
Zoe Allaux, Tunrada Piddon and Pimpisa "Sandwich" Sisutham are all tied for 34th place with a five-over-77 score.
Allaux recorded back-to-back-to-back birdies on the front nine for a total of four birdies on the day. Sisutham and Piddon recorded a rough start on the back nine but overcame that with two birdies each on the front nine.
The Knights will tee off in round two of the Palm Beach Gardens regional Tuesday morning at 8 a.m. off hole No. 10, along with Alabama and Northwestern.
| T8 | UCF | 300 |
| T8 | Jess Baker | 72 (E) |
| T16 | Anna Nordfors | 74 (+2) |
| T34 | Tunrada Piddon | 77 (+5) |
| T34 | Pimpisa "Sandwich" Sisutham | 77 (+5) |
| T34 | Zoe Allaux | 77 (+5) |