Oct. 10, 2009

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -

Second Round Results

Final Round Tee Times

The University of North Carolina women's golf team dropped from a tie at eighth to 13th after the second round of competition at the Tar Heel Invitational on Saturday. The Tar Heels started out the day on track to maintain their performances from the day before, but the last few holes proved difficult, pulling the team down to a score of 592.

"We were under par going into the back nine," says head coach Jan Mann, "We played well up until about the 15th hole and then the wheels fell off a bit. We lost a lot of strokes on those last three or four holes."

Sophomore Catherine O'Donnell still leads Carolina with a 146 after shooting two-over 74. The Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., native struggled with putting in the first round, but feels things went a little better on day two despite bogeys creeping on to her scorecard coming into the finish.

"I started off really well," says O'Donnell, "I didn't finish as well as I wanted to, but I'm hitting it really good and my putting is coming around."

O'Donnell is tied for 18th heading into the final round. Senior Kate Thomas remained in second place on the team with a three-over 75 for the second round. The Murwillumbah, Australia, native is tied for 32nd in the overall player standings.

Junior Jordan Allyne showed the most impressive performance for the Tar Heels. Allyne fired a one-over 73 in the second round to pull her into third amongst Carolina, and up to a tie at 54th with a 151 total.

Freshman Courtney Gunter took a tumble to tie for 63rd at 152 after struggling on he back nine and finishing with a five-over 79. Junior Sarah Thead is also tied at 63rd after she shot a two-over 74.

"I've talked to the girls, though, and I think they're prepared for tomorrow," says Coach Mann, "We're just putting today behind us and seeing what we can do tomorrow."

Junior Margaret Pentrack, playing as an individual, finished the second round with a 158 total and tied for 86th. Freshman Michelle Ahn faired a little better as an individual on day two after firing a 78 to tie for 89th with a 160 total.

Michigan State continued their reign of the team leader board, adding five more strokes to be eight under after two rounds.

"We've been working all year for it," says Michigan State head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll, "We feel like we've assembled a really solid team this year and we feel that all of them have the opportunity and the ability to shoot under par."

Alabama stayed strong in second place ending three over to head into the final round. Auburn and Vanderbilt moved up to tie for third at six over. Auburn had been tied with Carolina in eighth place after the first round and Vanderbilt bolted up from10th place.

UNC Finley Golf Course will host the final round of the Tar Heel Invitational on Sunday. The course features a par 72, 6,285-yard layout. The event is free and the public is invited to attend the match as well as the awards ceremony following competition. Live scoring is also available on tarheelblue.com.