CORVALLIS, Ore. - Fifteen shots separate the Arizona women's golf team from the rest of the pack after one round at the NCAA Division I Women's West Regional.
Freshmen Natalie Gulbis, with a 4-under 68, and Lorena Ochoa, who carded a 2-under 70, led the Wildcats to a 287 team total and into the top spot after teeing off early Thursday at the par-72 Trysting Tree Golf Club.
"I was very happy with my round -- it was very clean," said Gulbis, No. 3 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index. "I was sick yesterday, so I didn't have a practice round. There were a couple of holes I hadn't even seen."
Even though she was unfamiliar with the course, Gulbis had the only round in the 60s. Ohio State sophomore Mollie Fankhauser joined Ochoa with a 70. Arizona State's Jimin Kang shot a 71.
"I had eight one-putts. My putting was better than it has been all season," said Kang, a freshman. "I was pretty solid and I played smart."
Stanford (302) is a distant second in the team race, but coach Caroline O'Connor said she was pleased with the mental toughness of her squad, each of whom scored in the 70s.
"There were some double bogeys, even triple bogeys, but they held it together. If the players made errant shots, they got up on the next tee and put it behind them," O'Connor said.
Errant shots were indeed the problem for most of the field, with shin-high rough penalizing players who weren't straight off the tee.
"This rough is a real penalty for the person getting in it," said rules official Don Kowitz. "It's hard to keep up the pace of play with so many lost balls."
Wind from the northeast at 10 to 15 mph also made it tough for players trying to keep it in the fairway.
"You have to hit the ball straight -- (a lot) depends on your tee shot," Ochoa said. "I only missed one fairway all day. I hit my driver good."
Top-ranked Ochoa said she had to struggle with her club selection at times.
"In Tucson, the altitude is very different. I was hitting an extra club, plus the wind. Sometimes I was 140 away hitting a 6-iron," she said.
Several teams were just behind Stanford after the first round. Michigan State recorded a 304 after solid mid-70s scores from three of its players.
Memphis came out of the gates with a 305, good for fourth place. Ohio State had a 306 on the strength of Fankhauser's 70, and UCLA was in sixth place with 307.
The top eight teams and two individuals not on those teams from the West Regional will advance to the NCAA Women's Championship, scheduled for May 22-25 near Orlando, Fla.
