Albuquerque, N.M. -- Junior Kristin Glesne led the University of Iowa women’s golf team on day one of the Branch Law Firm Invitational on Monday. The Hawkeyes are in seventh after firing a 36-hole total of 582 (+6, 292, 290) -- the second lowest two-round total in program history.
All six teams ahead of Iowa are ranked in top-35 of the Golfstat Relative Rankings. No. 19 Oklahoma State leads the 17-team field at 575 (-1; 291, 284). They are followed by No. 16 Arizona (576; E), No. 21 Colorado (577; +1), No. 8 Northwestern (578; +2), No. 24 San Diego State (581; +5), and No. 1 Stanford (581; +5).
After a slow start on the back nine in round one, the Hawkeyes shot up the leaderboard. The team combined to shoot 12 birdies on the front nine en route to an opening-round 292 (+4).
The Hawkeyes continued to fire in round two. Iowa utilized 15 birdies to card a second-round 290 (+2) -- the fifth lowest 18-hole team score in program history.
GLESNE’S CAREER DAY
Glesne shot a 70 (-2) in round two of the tournament, marking a career best for 18-holes. Her 36-hole total of 143 (-1) also marked a career best.
IOWA SCORECARD
7 Hawkeyes 292 290 +6 582
T-8 Kristin Glesne 73 70 -1 143
T-23 Jessica Ip 72 73 +1 145
T-28 Elisa Suarez 75 71 +2 146
T-53 Shawn Rennegarbe 72 77 +5 149
T-79 Morgan Kukla 77 76 +9 153
HAWKEYES ON THE TEAM LEADERBOARD
Glesne is in the top-10 after a strong first two rounds to start the tournament. Senior Jessica Ip is tied 24th after finishing one over par on the day. Senior Elisa Suarez is two over par for the tournament and tied 29th for the tournament.
QUOTING COACH MENZEL
"The Hawkeyes came out strong today and showed great composure. The maturity in our line-up showed and the team gave great effort. Kristin is continuing to show great improvement and it is becoming obvious that she is going to be a key player in our line-up this year. Elisa had a really solid day and she worked very hard this summer and was committed to making great contributions to the team this year. We have a great opportunity tomorrow."
QUOTING GLESNE
“The Hawkeyes played really well today. We had good vibes going into the round this morning. We are all upperclassmen and have known each other for a while, so the team dynamic was really good. It was good to show up in a strong field and show we belong here. Tomorrow we just need to focus on playing better on a few holes that we struggled on today but overall it was really fun. I was in the middle of the group, so I got to see a lot of my teammates and wave at them when I could. The weather here has been awesome so we're just enjoying the week! Go Hawks!!”
THIRD ROUND
The Hawkeyes look to carry the momentum into round three tomorrow. The final round begins with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. (CT).
FOLLOW ALONG
Live stats for the tournament are available on Birdiefire.com. Fans can also follow @iowawomensgolf on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.