No. 2 Florida Tech Has Rough Start At SSC Championship
By Florida Tech // April 13, 2015
Finished 7th On The Day
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Entering with high expectations, No. 2 Florida Tech stumbled out the gate in round one of the Sunshine State Conference Championship on Sunday.
Finishing the day in seventh, the Panthers posted a 25-over-par 313 to equal its worst single-round total of the season.
“The golf course was set so that if you put the ball in the wrong spot, it was going to lead to a bogey,” said head coach Chris Saltmarsh.
“It’ll continue to be like that over the next few days as well. We made up-and-downs real difficult on ourselves, and sometimes that just happens. It’s unfortunate, however, to have it happen at such a time and place.”
Sophomore Johanna Larsson paved the way with a three-over-par 75, and Guro Rambjoer added a solid five-over-par 77, but the Panthers just never seemed to find a collective rhythm in the first round.
“We didn’t get off to a great start, but we hung around for a little while,” said Saltmarsh.
“However, a few bad swings forced us to lose the wind in our sail, and when that happens it’s difficult to pick back up again. It wears on you mentally.”
Ranked No. 7 in NCAA Division II scoring average, Felicia Leftinger didn’t appear to be her usual self, carding a seven-over-par 79. In addition, Karolyne Shieh and Rachel Polson each failed to break 80.
Despite Sunday’s issues, Saltmarsh believes his team will turn over a new leaf in the second round.
“I’m very confident the girls will bounce back over the next few days,” said Saltmarsh.
“Tomorrow’s certainly crucial, though. Eighteen shots is a lot to make up, but I believe we can get ourselves moving in the right direction. As always, our goal remains to try and win tomorrow’s round.”
Nova Southeastern currently holds a four-stroke margin over second-place Lynn.
Second round play at RedTail Golf Club is set to begin at 8:15 a.m. Monday
Log onto FloridaTechSports.com for live scoring coverage of the day’s action.
Team Standings
1. Nova Southeastern (+7) 295
2. Lynn (+11) 299
3. Rollins (+12) 300
4. Florida Southern (+15) 303
T5. Barry (+19) 307
T5. Saint Leo (+19) 307
7. Florida Tech (+25) 313
8. Tampa (+27) 315
9. Eckerd (+63) 351
