Women's golf starts out NCAA Championships in ninth

The 12th-ranked Arizona State women's golf team is in ninth place after the first round of the 2013 NCAA Championships, hosted by the University of Georgia, Tuesday. The team shot a 5-over 293 in the first wave of tee times at the University of Georgia Golf Course. Only three teams in the field of 24 were able to shoot under par for the round.

The Sun Devils were the first to tee off in the morning wave of golfers off hole number one with temperate weather conditions. With a 7:30 a.m. tee time to start the day, dew and a brief mist of fog covered the greens.  For the round, ASU traded birdies and bogeys but finished the day fairly even. As the Sun Devils closed out the first round on hole 18, juniors Justine Lee and Laura Blanco and sophomore Noemi Jimenez each recorded a birdie to swing ASU three strokes lower for the day.

Lee led the Sun Devils individually, shooting even par on Tuesday. A 2012 honorable mention All-American, Lee has been hampered for a large part of the season with a wrist injury. Returning to form, Lee had several excellent saves for par and kick started the wave of birdies on 18 with an amazing mid-range putt.

With a rough patch of a couple bogies and a double bogey, Jimenez picked up her game through the rest of the back nine recording three birdies to finish her round, including a tap in putt for birdie on 18 after she laid the ball right next to the pin. 

The Sun Devils tee off tomorrow at 11:50 a.m. on 10 and will be paired again with Stanford and Texas. Pairings will be based by score for rounds three and four. 

Arizona State is a name synonymous with dominance in collegiate women's golf. In addition to holding records for the most championship appearances, Arizona State holds a monopoly on the NCAA Records book with a total of seven records.

The Sun Devils have won the most national championships in NCAA history with seven, including six in a span of eight years in the 1990's under then-head coach Linda Vollstedt.