Ito Opens Spring with 69 at Central District

Parrish, Fla. - Senior Merynn Ito fired a first-round 69 and finished the day in a tie for third place individually to help the Nebraska women’s golf team to a 10th-place standing through 36 holes at the 15-team Central District Invitational at River Wilderness Golf Course on Monday.

Ito’s three-under-par opening round was just one stroke off the school record of 68, which she tied in the last tournament of the fall season, the Edwin Watts/Palmetto Invitational in Kiawah Island, S.C., Nov. 1-2.

The senior from Aiea, Hawaii used her strong opening round of the spring season to help the Huskers to a 306 in the first round, before closing the day with a 310 in the second round. As a team, the Huskers ended 36 holes at 616, 29 shots off the pace set by Missouri, which enters tomorrow’s final round at 587. Arkansas is just two shots back of the Tigers at 589, while Baylor is in third place with a two-round total of 595.

Ito followed her stellar opening round by settling for a 77 in the second round to sit four strokes off the lead held by Arkansas’ Stacy Lewis, who fired a two-under-par 142 (72, 70) in the opening 36 holes. Ito is in a four-way tie for third place heading into tomorrow’s final 18 holes.

"Merynn had a great start to the spring season," Nebraska Coach Robin Krapfl said. "She is playing well and keeping things the way they ended in the fall."

True freshman Elli Brown produced NU’s second-best effort of the day, firing rounds of 78 and 76 to sit in a tie for 34th at 154. Sophomore Chrissie McArdle added rounds of 77 and 80 to end the first day of competition in a tie for 48th place at 157.

Sara Sackett and Allison Stewart both struggled in the opening round on Monday, before rebounding for stronger second rounds. Sackett managed a first-round 83, before shooting a 78 in the second round, while Stewart settled for an 82 in the opening round, before coming back with a 79 in round two. Both golfers are tied for 61st place with two-round totals of 161.

Krapfl said poor putting prevented the Huskers from finishing with lower scores.

"We just have to work through that, and once we start to get the putting going we will have the capability to be really strong and get ahead of other ranked teams."

The Huskers will hope to climb the leaderboard during Tuesday’s final round, which is set for 8 a.m. on the 6,009-yard, par-72 River Wilderness Golf Course. NU is just seven strokes out of fourth place in the 15-team tournament, so a strong final round by the Huskers could drastically change the final standings.

"I’m confident we are really going to start playing well," Krapfl said. "We are going to have some fun and start putting and that will put us in some good numbers."

Team Scores (First-Second-Two Rounds)
1. Missouri (292-295-587)
2. Arkansas (296-293-589)
3. Baylor (300-295-595)
4. Louisiana State (303-296-599)
T5. Michigan (307-303-610)
T5. Texas A&M (306-304)
7. Texas Tech University (311-300-611)
8. Ohio State (303-310-613)
9. Southern Methodist (309-305-614)
10. Nebraska (306-310-616)
11. Michigan State (304-313-617)
12. Notre Dame (313-305-618)
13 Northwestern (317-308-625)
14. Indiana (316-323-639)
15. Kansas State (321-321-642)

Nebraska Individuals (First-Second-Two Rounds)
T3. Merynn Ito (69-77-146)
T34. Elli Brown (78-76-154)
T48. Chrissie McArdle (77-80-157)
T61. Sarah Sackett (83-78-161)
T61. Allison Stewart (82-79-161)