Feb. 18, 2008

PARRISH, Fla. -- Playing against some of the top teams from the Big Ten and Big 12 conferences, Northwestern opened its spring season Monday with 36 holes of golf at the Central District Invitational. The opening spring tournament is being held at the River Wilderness Golf Club (par 72, 6,099 yards).

The Wildcats are in 13th place (out of 15 teams), but are within four shots of SMU, No. 46 Nebraska and No. 34 Oklahoma, which are positioned 11th through 13th, respectively.

Northwestern freshman Rebecca Lederhausen (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central) equaled her low round of the year, carding a 2-over 74 in Monday's second round. She shot a 6-over 78 in the opening round for an 8-over 152 (78-74), which is good for 20th place. Michigan State's Sara Brown leads the 75-player field with a 4-under 140 while Kent State's Kira Meixner and Missouri's Julia Potter are tied for second at 1-over (145).

Like Lederhausen, junior Jennifer Hong (Windermere, Fla./First Academy) also had a better second round than the first, firing a 4-over 76 after an opening-round 79. She is 11-over (79-76=155) for the tournament and in 28th place.

Northwestern's Kelsey Lindenschmidt (West Chester, Ohio/Ursuline Academy), Katie Trachok (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) and Justina Yu (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman) are in 47th, 59th and 66th place, respectively, and separated by three strokes each. Lindenschmidt fired a 15-over 159 (79-80), while Trachok carded an 18-over 162 (78-84) and Yu is 21-over (83-82=165).

The third and final round is set for Tuesday morning. Michigan State, the host school, holds a 14-stroke lead over second-place Kent State heading into the final round.

For a complete recap of team and individual scores, visit Golfstat's live scoring.