Southern Pines, NC – The First event of the 2011 PKB Season is officially off and running at Pine Needles Lodge and Resort for the PKB Pine Needles Classic presented by rocketTour Golf. The fast greens of the Needles tested all of the players, but two; Victoria Allred of Pfafftown, NC and Elyse Smidinger of Crofton, MD. They calmed their nerves on the slick grass and posted equal scores of 1 over 72 sharing the one shot lead over three other players at two over par 73.
It seems the secret was in the putter for Allred and Smidinger today as both players openly admitted that it was the putter and not incredible ball striking that assisted them in overcoming the windy elements in round 1.
“ I was missing the ball left today with my irons, but after working on my putting the last few weeks I was able to hole some great putts and get up and down for par when I needed it,” stated Allred.
Elyse Smidinger was excited about her putting performance as well, “ I had my best putting performance of my career today ! It was amazing to finally have 27 putts and battle through the windy conditions. I was putting in the hotel last night and really found a groove. I am glad it paid off!”
It is sure to be a showdown in Southern Pines tomorrow with seven players within six shots of the lead including 2010 PKB Order of Merit winner Katie Kirk and 2010 Invitational runner up Bryana Nguyen.
Check out the live scoring action online at Shotstat and for up to date tournament details including tee times for round 2 visit us at the PKB website.
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