T-Bird (W-Golf) Moves into 4th at Nationals

The Thunderbirds moved up one spot into 4th place at the NJCAA DI Women's Golf Championship with a 6-over 298 in Round 2.

No. 2 Daytona State leads the team score at 8-under par for the tournament. No. 1 Seminole State is 11 shots behind in second place at 3-over. Odessa was the top school outside of Florida at 19-over par and then in fifth place is McLennan CC at 32-over.

Angelica Holan of Daytona State leads the way individually at 11-under par.

The Thunderbirds started off on the back nine at 8:15 a.m. CDT Wednesday morning.

Nanami Hayakawa had a fantastic second round on Day 2. Hayakawa shot a 1-over par 74 to move into a tie for 10th place. The freshman bogeyed holes 13 and 14, but birdied No. 18 to finish the back in 38 shots at 1-over.

The Nagano, Japan native bogeyed No. 1 and made birdie on No. 4 to move back to even on the front nine. She dropped a shot on No. 6 and then birdied the last to shoot 1-over for Round 2. Hayakawa is now 3-over for the championship.

Freshman Hinano Kishida played brilliantly on the back nine for the T-Birds. Kishida made birdies on No. 11 and No. 18 to head to the front nine at 2-under par. A bogey on No. 3 and a double on No. 7 moved Kishida to 1-over on the day. She made pars on No. 8 and No. 9 to finish at 1-over par for Round 2 and 6-over par for the championship. The 74 moved Kishida into a tie for 18th place at the tournament.  

Wawa Booncharn turned in a 2-over 75 in Round 2 to move up the leaderboard and into a tie for 29th. Booncharn made bogeys on No. 11 and No. 18 as she finished the back in 39 shots. The front featured bogeys on hole 3 and hole 7. Booncharn strung together back-to-back birdies on No. 5 and No. 6. She closed the front with a 36 to shoot 2-over on the day and 9-over for the championship. 

Olivia Heard shot a 2-over 75 in Round 2 to vault up 11 spots into a tie for 39th. Heard had a tough first round where she shot 83.

The Englishwoman had an interesting card on the back nine to start her day on Tuesday. She started birdie-bogey-bogey-par and then went bogey-bogey-bogey-par to go into hole 18 at 4-over on the day. Heard narrowly made eagle from eight feet, but still birdied No. 18 to shoot 40 on the front nine.

Heard birdied No. 1 and then made six consecutive pars before a bogey on No. 8 dropped her to 3-over for the round. She took advantage of the par-5 No. 9 hole and stuck her approach to 10-feet where she rolled in the birdie putt to shoot 75 (+2). Heard is 12-over for the championship and in a tie for 39th place.

Kyleigh McGowen was first off the tee in the morning as the substitute for Ashleigh Johnson. McGowen began the day par-birdie-par in the first three holes to start 1-under. She went on to bogey five out of her last six holes to shoot 41 on the back nine. The front started with a double bogey and then she went par-par-bogey-par through her next four holes to be 7-over through 14. McGowen then closed bogey-bogey-bogey-triple to shoot 13-over for the round.  

The Thunderbirds have shot a 30-over two-round total of 614 (316-298) and are in 4th place outright.

The T-Birds will tee off Wednesday, May 22 at 8:15 a.m. EDT at Duran Golf Club off of No. 1 tee. Tee times are as follows, Kyleigh McGowen at 8:15 a.m. EDT, Wawa Booncharn at 8:23 a.m. EDT, Olivia Heard at 8:33 a.m. EDT, Nanami Hayakawa at 8:42 a.m. EDT, and Hinano Kishida at 8:51 a.m. EDT.