April 18, 2003

LEXINGTON, Ky.

Live Scoring Updates for Day 2

The No. 10 University of Tennessee Lady Vol golf squad opened up the 2003 SEC Golf Championships in Lexington, Ky., with a three-over 291 to jump into the lead. The Big Orange made a huge turnaround during the final three holes to make up a three shot deficit coming out of the 15th hole to take a four-shot lead over South Carolina. The first-round total marks the fourth-lowest first round in program history.

"We are all excited about the lead." Head Coach Judi Pavon said. "We did pretty well, but we need to have a good fourth score the rest of the tournament. We are where we wanted to be.

"The team played the stretch of holes from eight to 15 pretty steady." Coach Pavon said on the come-from-behind run. "That stretch is pretty difficult, but we were able to take advantage of the 16th hole and played a solid rest of the round."

Individually, freshman Violeta Retamoza (Aguascalientes, Mexico) carded her third 70 of the season to tie for second-place with Arkansas's Lina Axelsson. Retamoza is just two shots shy of medallist leader South Carolina's Kristy McPherson's four-under 68. Junior Mary Jan Fernandez (Henderson, Nev.) fired a personal season-low one-under 71, while team captain Jessica Shepley (Oakville, Ontario, Canada) matched the effort to finish in a fourth-place tie. Junior Tai Perry (Unionville, Pa.) notched a seven-over 37th-place tying 79, while rookie Golda Johansson (Lund, Sweden) finished with a 12-over 84 to tie for 53rd-place.

"We are all very excited." Retamoza said. "It was a good day, but we need to get a good fourth score. We need to start off good tomorrow if we want to stay at the top. Everyone is excited and tomorrow should be a good day. We are all confident right now."

The Lady Vols continue the SEC Championships on Saturday with tee times starting at 9:00 a.m. and conclude the tournament on Sunday at 9:00 a.m.

SEC Golf Championships
At University Club of Kentucky (Lexington, Ky.)

Team Scores:
1	TENNESSEE	291
2	South Carolina	295
3	Florida	296
4	Arkansas	297
5	Auburn	299
	Georgia	299
7	Vanderbilt	306
8	Kentucky	309
9	Mississippi State	317
10	Alabama	318
11	Mississippi	319
12	Louisiana State	324
Top Scorer (field=60):
1.	Kristy McPherson, USC	68
UT Scores:
T2	Violeta Retamoza	70
T4	Mary Jan Fernandez	71
	Jessica Shepley	71
T37	Tai Perry	79
T53	Golda Johansson	83