Nebraska’s Kelli Ann Strand battled through a slow start in the second round to remain among the top 25 individuals through 36 holes at the NCAA Cle Elum Women’s Golf Regional in Washington on Tuesday.
Strand withstood bogeys on two of her first three holes on Tuesday and settled for a four-over-par front nine. The sophomore from Challis, Idaho then took back-to-back bogeys on No. 10 and 11 to slip to six-over through 11 holes before steadying with a pair of pars and a birdie on No. 14. She added a par on No. 15, before taking two more bogeys on No. 16 and 17 and closing with a par on No. 18.
Strand ended her second round with a 79 (+7) after opening the tournament with 70 (-2) on Monday on the 6,306-yard layout of the Tumble Creek Club at the Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum.
She enters Wednesday’s final round at 149 (+5) in a six-way tie for 22nd in the 66-player regional field.
Stanford took firm control of the team race with a 274 (-14) on Tuesday. Stanford enters the final round at 558 (-18) with a 12-shot lead over second-place Duke (570). Virginia is 27 shots off the pace at 585 (+9), while Arizona State sits in fourth at 591 (+15).
Cardinal golfers own the top three spots on the individual leader board, headed by Paula Martin Sampedro who fired a four-under-par 68 for the second straight day to sit at 136 (-8) through two rounds. Sampedro owns a one-shot lead over teammate Rachel Heck, who scorched the Tumble Creek course with a second-round 65 (-7) Tuesday after shooting even-par 72 on Monday. Stanford’s Kelly Xu rounds out the top three at 139 (-5), three strokes off the lead after carding a 69 (-3) in the second round.
Only six golfers in the tournament field head to the final round with scores under par, including Duke’s Phoebe Brinker (-2) and Emma McMyler (-1) along with Virginia’s Amanda Sambach (-1).
Colorado’s Sabrina Iqbal put up an even-par 72 on Tuesday to erase Strand’s seven-shot lead after the first 18 holes. Iqbal joins Strand in a tie for 22nd at 149 (+7) among the six individuals on non-qualifying regional teams in Cle Elum.
New Mexico State’s Emma Bunch, who was the top seed among the individuals in the Cle Elum Regional, added a 73 (+1) while San Francisco’s Riana Mission notched a 74 (+2) to close the second round in a tie for 36th at 152 (+8), just three shots back of Strand and Iqbal. Colorado’s Morgan Miller (T54th, 157) and Washington State’s Madelyn Gamble (T61st, 159) round out the individuals from non-qualifying teams…
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