Kim fires a 72 in first round of NCAA Championship

STILLWATER, Okla. — Arkansas’ Dylan Kim posted an even-par 72 in round one of the 2018 NCAA Women’s Golf Championships in Stillwater on Friday.

The second-ranked Razorbacks battled tough conditions at Karsten Creek Golf Club and finished the day with a 308 and are tied for 16th in the first of four rounds of stroke play.

Kim’s round of 72 has her tied for 11th in the 132-player field. She opened her day on the back nine of the golf course and counted one birdie, one double bogey and seven par holes to turn 1-over.

Her string of par holes stretched to 12 in a row before she birdied the final hole moving back to even for the day.

Although scores were higher than head coach Shauna Taylor might have liked, the Razorbacks are still in a good position of achieving their goal of making the two cuts to match play.

The first cut after three rounds of stroke play pairs the field down from 24 teams to 15 teams. The top-15 play one final round of stroke play and the top-8 teams move on to match play in the marathon event.

Arkansas is one shot out of the top-15 and just seven shots behind the top-8 teams.

From Shauna Taylor:

“We got off to a little bit of a rough start. This is a championship golf course that demands precision, that demands patience. If you get it out of position the goal is to not make two mistakes in a row and we did that a couple of times today. We didn’t have our best stuff today, but this is a long week and we are in a fine position to accomplish our goals.

“This team is old and veteran. They know what to do. It’s not like we can reinvent the wheel. The hay is in the barn and they just have to go out and trust their preparation. I think we’ll have a great day tomorrow.”

Arkansas will open the day in the 7:30 a.m. tee times as the field flips from round one.

The Razorbacks

The Field