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TANAGURA, Japan – The Oregon State women’s golf team opened its 2013-14 season with an impressive 4-over 292 in the first round of the Topy Cup on Tuesday to put the Beavers in second place in the five-team field.
Sophomore Ashlee Pickerell fired a career-best 1-under 71 at the par-72, 6,087-yard Tanagura Country Club to lead the way for Oregon State, while junior Anica Yoo carded an even-par 72 and senior Lauren Sewell finished with a 1-over 73. Sophomore Chelsea Saelee shot a 4-over 76 to make up the Beavers’ scoring in the opening round of the three-day, 54-hole tournament.
“We feel that this was a decent start to the event but we can manage the golf course better and more efficiently tomorrow to put up a lower team score,” Oregon State head coach Risë Alexander said. “The golf course is in excellent shape and also is very scorable. The team is hitting the ball well. Course Management and better speed on our putts will be the key to lower scores tomorrow.
Pac-12 rival Washington leads the tournament through 18 holes with a 6-under 282, as four of their players all fired sub-par rounds. There are three Japanese teams competing this year and they round out the top five -- Tohoku Fukushi University (8-over 296), Osaka Gakuin University (8-over 296) and Senshu University (22-over 310).
Pickerell had birdies on the par-4 first, par-3 seventh, par-3 12th and par-418th holes to go with one bogey and a double for her first career under-par round. Her previous career-best round was a 2-over 74 while playing for the University of Tennessee last fall.  Pickerell transferred to Oregon State last December and her best score as a Beaver was a 3-over 74 in the first round of the Peg Barnhard Invitational.
The 1-under 71 puts Pickerell in a tie for fourth place and only a stroke behind three golfers who all finished with a 2-under 70.
Yoo was 3-over through 11 holes but reeled off four pars and three consecutive birdies on 16, 17 and 18 to give her a solid even-par 72. Sewell battled through two bogeys and a double to post three birdies and finish with a 1-over 73.
The surprise of the opening round was Seshia Telles, who entered her senior season as Oregon State’s career leader in scoring average, as she finished with a 5-over 77.
The second round begins at 8 a.m. JST on Wednesday, which is 4 p.m. PT on Tuesday (Japanese Time is 16 hours ahead of Pacific Time).
Team Scores: 1. Washington 282 (-6); 2. Oregon State 292 (+4); t3. Tohoku Fukushi University 296 (+8); t3. Osaka Gakuin University 296 (+8); 5. Senshu University 310 (+22).
Individual Scores: t1. Jennifer Yang, Washington 70 (-2); t1. Ying Luo, Washington 70 (-2); t1. Ayumi Takeuchi, Osaka Gakuin 70 (-2); t4. Ashlee Pickerell, Oregon State 71 (-1); t4. Charlotte Thomas, Washington 71 (-1); t4. Ayame Morii, Osaka Gakuin 71 (-1); t4. SooBin Kim, Washington 71 (-1); t4. Emi Sato, Tohoku Fukushi 71 (-1); t9. Anica Yoo, Oregon State 72 (E); t9. Risa Tabata, Kinki University 72 (E); t9. Mayu Seko, Nagoya University of Commerce & Business 72 (E).
Oregon State Scores: t4. Ashlee Pickerell 71 (-1); t9. Anica Yoo 72 (E); 12. Lauren Sewell 73 (+1); t17. Chelsea Saelee 76 (+4); t20. Seshia Telles 77 (+5).