NW ARKANSAS CHAMPIONSHIP

September 27, 2024

Dottie Ardina

Pinnacle Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. All right, here with Dottie Ardina after her first round at th Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G. 6-under round; tied for the lead right now. I saw just one bogey on the scorecard. Talk about your day.

DOTTIE ARDINA: Yeah, it was pretty wild. I mean, I was just trying to play steady out there. I know there is a lot of birdie holes, and the greens were pretty soft, but then the last few -- like my last nine was pretty windy, so I was trying to not play aggressive.

I did make a lot of the putts; made seven birdies today. One chipped in; one bogey on 16; one bad drive.

Q. You said there is a lot of birdies out there. What do you think it is about this course that makes it so birdieable?

DOTTIE ARDINA: I think the par-5s are gettable. The greens were pretty good and pretty fast. It's just I think and also the pin locations were quite gettable today. I mean, it's pretty windy right now, but I just had a lot of good numbers today.

Q. And it's been a long season; we're nearing the end of the year now. What's it like to post a round like this?

DOTTIE ARDINA: It's definitely a good start because I need it. I'm outside top 100 right now, so I'm trying to step on the gas, you know, to get my full card at the end the season.

So I'm happy with my great start.

Q. Just one more question. This tournament has been around for 18 years.

DOTTIE ARDINA: Yeah.

Q. What's it been like to come back here and just see how the community and this event kind of rallies?

DOTTIE ARDINA: Actually this tournament is one of my favorites. Yeah, I played every year. Last year I had a good top 10 finish. Really looking forward to play this week.