July 9, 2009 BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Three Demon Deacons, Laura Diaz, Nannette Hill and Michelle Shin, teed-it up Thursday in the opening round of the 2009 US Women's Open at the Old Course at Saucon Valley Country Club in eastern Pennsylvania. The long brutal course took its toll on many of the players and the Wake Forest contingent was not immune. None of the Deacon-three could get much going Thursday in pretty good scoring conditions and all have work to do on Friday if any of them want to play on the weekend. Diaz, a 1997 graduate, birdied her first two holes of the day but then bogeyed the next two and eventually made the turn in one-over par. She opened the front with a pair of pars but made five bogeys in the last seven holes to card an opening round 6-over 77. Hill, who earned second team All-American honors this past season, got off to a tough start, making a double-bogey at No. 10. She recovered and made the turn at just three-over but made three more bogeys in the first six holes on the front nine to drop to six-over par. She then ran into trouble on the long 453-yard par-4 seventh, the second-longest par-4 in US Women's Open history. Hill made a quadruple-bogey eight, which dropped her to 10-over par for the day. After a par on the ninth, the Pelham Manor, N.Y., native settled for an 81. Hill hit just 4-of-14 fairways on the day, which doesn't make scoring easy on a US Open setup. Like Hill, Shin was teeing-it-up for the first time in a US Open. The 2009 recruit made two birdies and two bogeys in the first six holes and was even-par heading to the downhill par-3 17th, her eighth hole of the day. Shin would make bogey on both Nos. 17 and 18 to turn in 2-over 37. After a bogey at the par-5 first, Shin settled down and made five-straight pars but closed with bogies at the final three holes for a first round 78.
The three players weren't the only ones to struggle as the scoring average on Thursday was a stunning 76.42, one of the highest opening round stroke-averages in recent US Open history. Shin will get the action started Friday morning off the front nine at 7:22 am. Hill won't be far behind at 9:12 am while Diaz will get started at 1:47 in the afternoon. |
