NIACC's Lunning shoots opening round 91
ORMOND BEACH, Fla. - NIACC sophomore Thea Lunning shot an opening round 49-42 - 91 Monday at the NJCAA Division I national championships on the Plantation Bay Golf Course.
Lunning sits in a tie for 59th place out of 113 golfers after the first 18 holes of the 72-hole tournament. The 91 by Lunning is the best opening round at the national tournament for a Lady Trojan since Sarah Steinauer shot 85 and Alexandria Eckenrod shot 87 at the 2013 national tournament in Mesa, Ariz.
"Thea got off to a bit of a rough start (Monday)," NIACC coach Chris Frenz said, "but once she settled in she played really well and she's looking to attacking this course (Tuesday)."
Lunning, who is placed fourth at the NJCAA Region XI tournament, recorded one par on the front nine (hole No.4 - a 135-yard par 3).
On the back nine, Lunning, who is from Mason City, recorded three pars, including both of the par 5s. She parred the 490-yard 10th hole and recorded a par on the 477-yard 14th hole.
Lunning also recorded a par on the 140-yard par 3 13th hole.
"The layout is just shy of 6,100 yards," Frenz said, "so she's hitting some shots she's not used to hitting into the green, but she's figuring it out.
"The speed of the greens are much different than anything we've played on this year, too, and she's done a nice job of adjusting to them."
Lunning begins her second round at 7:30 a.m. (CDT) on Tuesday.
"Ninety-four degrees was stifling (Monday)," Frenz said, "so we'll beat the heat (Tuesday) and she'll be looking to move up the leaderboard."
