Fassi, Kim in second place while Hogs fifth after first day

HOOVER, Ala. — Juniors Maria Fassi and Dylan Kim shot 2-under 70s and are tied for second place after first round action at the 2018 SEC Women’s Golf Championship on Wednesday.

Fassi and Kim are one shot off the lead with two rounds of stroke play remaining.

Windy conditions, with gusts up to 20 miles an hour, and challenging pin placements tested No. 3 Arkansas and they finished the day in fifth place shooting 299.

Second-ranked Alabama leads after one round with 286, followed by No. 10 South Carolina at 291, No. 24 Vanderbilt with 296 and No. 13 Florida with 298.

Kim found herself out in front of the field early with four birdies through the first 11 holes. She and Fassi combined for seven of Arkansas’ nine birdies in the round.

Kim’s four birdies is tied for the lead in the field after round one while Fassi is tied for second against the field with 14 par holes.

Senior Alana Uriell finished the day tied for 46th with a 7-over 79, followed by junior Cara Gorlei who is tied for 52nd with an 80.

Junior Kaylee Benton rounds out the Razorback scores with an 81 and is tied for 60th. Benton finished strong with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 to close her round.

Arkansas tees it up nearly an hour earlier on Thursday, with Benton getting the team started at 8:50 a.m.

Gorlei is next followed by Uriell, Kim and Fassi in 10-minute intervals. The Razorbacks play with Florida and Missouri in round two.

From Head Coach Shauna Taylor

“Obviously, it is tough conditions, so it made it a little difficult for scoring. I think we played a little defensively today instead of being disciplined with our game plan. We got away from it a little bit, but I think we rallied hard coming in. We struggled on the front nine but played a little better on the back nine. Dylan and Maria were solid today and I think it is a little uncharacteristic of the other three. But this is a long week and today some breaks didn’t go our way. The conditions will be similar and maybe a little cooler tomorrow, but we’ve played in wind before and we have to trust our training, our skills and our preparation.”