Hannah Thomson led the Seminoles in the first round of the Tar Heel Invitational.

Thomson leads Seminoles against very tough field.

Oct. 9, 2009

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The No. 19 ranked Florida State women's golf team is in sixth place in the team standings and Seminole sophomore Hannah Thomson is in a tie for second place in the team standings after the first round of the 34th annual Tar Heel Invitational at the Finely Golf Course at the University of North Carolina. The Seminoles are only four strokes out of second place and only nine strokes out of first place in the event which includes nine of top 25 ranked teams in college golf.

The Seminoles are currently ahead of four teams ranked in the GolfStat Top 25 including No. 14 Denver and No. 18 Duke.

No. 5 ranked Michigan State, with two golfers in the top five of the individual standings, leads the team standings after finishing as the only team under par in the first round. The Spartans shot a team score of 285. Laura Kueny leads the Spartans with a three-under par score of 69. She was the only one of the 93 golfers in the field who carded a score in the 60's. Florida State's Thomson is only one stroke behind Kueny as she plays for the first individual title of her Seminole career.

Thomson (Perth, Australia) tied her career low with her two-under par score of 70. She was the most consistent of the Seminoles with 16 of 18 holes carded at par or better including five birdies. Thomson was never above par and was as many a three strokes under par during the round. She birdie three of her first seven holes to move to three under par and birdied two of her final eight holes to finish at two under par.

Thomson has earned three top-25 individual finishes in the first three events of the fall season with her best finish of tied for 16th coming at the season-opening Cougar Classic.

Junior Macarena Silva (Santiago, Chile) is in a tie for fifth place after shooting a one-under par 71. She has now carded scores of 73 or better in three of her last five rounds over her last three tournaments. Silva was three under par over her last eight holes of the round to move under par and finish with a 71. After 10 holes she was two over par; at the end of the round she was one under par.

Freshman Jessica Negron (Ocala, Fla.) continued her stellar play as she carded a three-over par score of 75 and finished the first round in a tie for 37th place. It marked the seventh time in eight rounds during her freshman season that he has carded a score of 75 or better. Negron finished with to birdies and 11 holes at par and was never more than three strokes over par during the round.

Freshman Mary Beth Ramsay (Orlando, Fla.) and senior Lacey Agnew (Jonesboro, Ga.) finished with scores of 78 and 79 respectively.

The Second round gets underway at 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning. The Seminoles will tee off beginning at 9:45 and will play with ACC co-members Virginia and Wake Forest.

Tar Heel Invitational/Par 72/Oct. 9-11, 2009/First Round FSU Scores
Finley Golf Course/University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill, N.C.
6/18.   Florida State      294
T2.     Hannah Thomson     70
T5.     Macarena Silva     71
T37.    Jessica Negron     75
T64.    Mary Beth Ramsay   78
T74.    Lacey Agnew        79

Tar Heel Invitational/Par 72/Oct. 9-11, 2009/First Round Team Scores
Finley Golf Course/University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill, N.C.
1.   Michigan State     285  10.   Vanderbilt       298
2.   Alabama            290  11.   Duke             299
3.   Tennessee          291  12.   NC State         301
4.   Virginia           282  13.   Denver           302
5.   Wake Forest        293  T14.  Texas A&M        304
6.   Florida State      294  T14.  Louisville       304
7.   South Carolina     295  16.   Kent State       306
T8.  Auburn             296  17.   UNC Wilmington   310
T8.  North Carolina     296  18.   East Carolina    316