Belleair, Fla. – Ninety players took to Pelican Golf Club this morning in the heavy winds where the difficult green complexes showed their teeth.
What Happened?
Hometown hero, Olivia Hasselbach, finished tied for the lead after firing a round of 67 (-3). Her impressive round started off early with three consecutive birdies on holes three, four, and five. Joining her at the top spot is Siuue 
Wu of Reunion, FL, who also finished with a 3-under score, highlighted by a hole-out eagle on the sixth hole for a front-nine score of 33.
In third place alone, Yvette O'Brien closed her day with a 68. Despite not having a practice round, O’Brien managed to hit 17 out of 18 greens and finish 2-under on her debut round at the course.
McKoan posted the low round of the day to take the top spot on the 13-15 leaderboard. She carded two birdies on the front nine, and a lone bogey on the back nine to finish the day at 69 (-1). Close behind is Ava Zhang, who balanced two front-nine bogeys with two back-nine birdies to end her round at even par.
What’s Next?
The second round of the Girls’ Junior Championship will begin Friday at 8:00 a.m. with tee times off of holes #1 and #10. The leaders will tee off at 10:06 A.M. off #1.
Notable
- Ninety players teed it up at Pelican Golf Club
- Six players finished the first round under par or better
- Siuue Wu was the only player to record an eagle
- Angela Chu Po Nip, Olivia Hasselbach, and Katelyn Huber recorded the most birdies with five apiece
- Yvette O'Brien recorded the only bogey-free round
Quotable
“I went in really just trying to hit fairways and greens and see if we could get the putter hot and it kind of did– I was making a good bit of putts out there. I was trying to keep it in the beacons and play my normal game.” – Olivia Hasselbach on her first-round 67
“My round was great... Now that I actually know the golf course I can be a little bit more aggressive to the targets and hopefully more putts will fall considering I hit so many greens, and not many putts fell, so just getting acclimated to the green speeds and everything.” – Yvette O’Brien on her mindset going into Round 2
“I think my short game was really good today and I just made a few putts. Tomorrow I’m going to keep hitting the fairways and greens.” – Siuue Wu on her first-round 67
