COLUMBUS, Ohio – Old Dominion women's golf junior Leah Onosato carded an opening round 2-under 70 and sits in a five-way tie for second place at the NCAA Columbus Regional, hosted by Ohio State University at the par-72, 6,358-yard OSU Golf Club Scarlet Course.
"The Scarlet Course is a serious test, and every part of your game has to be sharp in order to score well," head coach Mallory Hetzel said. "The rain yesterday caused the practice round to be canceled, so we weren't sure what to expect. Leah played a great round of golf and did an amazing job representing ODU. We are really proud of her and look forward to the next two days."
Starting on the front nine, Onosato went out in 2-under 34 thanks to a pair of birdies on the par-5 fourth and sixth holes. On the day, the native of Kumamoto, Japan was 3-under with three birdies on the course's par 5s. She shared the best score on par 5s on Monday, and her five total birdies were tied for the most among the field of 96 individuals.
Onosato dropped her first shot of the day with a bogey on the 11th but promptly made up for it with birdie on the par-5 12th. She then bogeyed the 13th and 15th to fall back to even par for the round. Following a par on the 16th, Onosato closed out the round with birdies on the 17th and 18th to return to 2-under.
Hailey Borja of Michigan fired a 69 (-3) on Monday to lead the field after 18 holes. Notable names tied with Onosato at 2-under include No. 25-ranked Caley McGinty of Kent State and No. 37 Gina Kim of Duke. In total, Onosato sits ahead of 22 individuals ranked inside the top-100 by Golfstat.
No. 33 Oklahoma jumped out to an 18-hole lead after shooting a 2-under 286 in the first round. Second-ranked Duke is right behind at 287, and No. 26 Michigan closed out with even-par 288.
The top six teams and the low three individuals not on an advancing team from each regional site advance to the national championship, help May 21-26 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The NCAA Regional continues tomorrow with the second round. Onosato is scheduled to tee off at 8:50 a.m.
Team Leaderboard
1. No. 33 Oklahoma – 286
2. No. 2 Duke – 287
3. No. 26 Michigan – 288
4. No. 18 Georgia – 289
T5. No. 7 Arizona State – 291
T5. No. 15 Kent State – 291
T7. Washington – 296
T7. No. 11 Virginia – 296
T9. No. 24 Vanderbilt – 297
T9. No. 42 Illinois – 297
T11. No. 37 Kentucky – 298
T11. Coastal Carolina – 298
T11. Campbell – 298
14. No. 30 Clemson – 299
15. No. 49 Nebraska – 307
16. No. 46 New Mexico – 310
17. Youngstown State – 322
18. Evansville – 323
Individual Top-10
1. Hailey Borja (Michigan) – 69
T2. No. 25 Caley McGinty (Kent State) – 70
T2. No. 37 Gina Kim (Duke) – 70
T2. Kaitlin Milligan (Oklahoma) – 70
T2. No. 80 Monet Chun (Michigan) – 70
T2. Leah Onosato (ODU) – 70
T7. No. 4 Linn Grant (Arizona State) – 71
T7. No. 55 Jenny Bae (Georgia) – 71
T7. Sophia Carlsen (Coastal Carolina) -- 71
T7. No. 11 Erica Shepherd (Duke) – 71
T7. Candice Mahe (Georgia) – 71
T7. Olivia Mehaffey (Arizona State) – 71
T7. Libby Winans (Oklahoma) – 71
T7. Virginia Bossi (Virginia) – 71
Onosato Tied for Second after First Round of NCAA Columbus Regional
