Oct. 6, 2003

GADSDEN, Ala. - The Samford women's golf team is in eighth place after shooting a 336 at the first round of the Gamecock Golf Classic hosted by Jacksonville State. Kelly Stout is tied for 20th place overall shooting an eight over par, 80.

"Kelly Stout had a very steady round today despite some unusual circumstances," Head Coach Ian Thompson said. Stout hit a ball which landed in the scoop of a backhoe, which then drove away with the ball. It took tournament officials over 45 minutes to make a ruling on play, before awarding Stout a drop.

Kelly Villarreal and Jaime Hampton each shot an 85 finishing to tie for 35th overall. Tricia Harlow and Christine Sparks are tied for 41st after shooting an 86. The Bulldogs shot 18 stokes better in today's first round than they did in the first round of the opening tournament two weeks ago.

"I saw a lot of positives today," Thompson noted. "We still need to work some on our short game, but this is a difficult course to play and I believe if we play up to our potential we could improve our score by 10 to 15 strokes."

Jacksonville State leads the tournament after shooting a 300, Birmingham-Southern and Murray State are second with 312 followed by: Florida Atlantic 320, Bethune-Cookman 322, New Oreleans 327, Mercer 329 and Samford 336.