RIO VERDE, Ariz. – After a stellar start to the Rio Verde Collegiate Invitational, the Illinois State women's golf team struggled to maintain its strong play and dropped on the leaderboard. After Friday's first round, the Redbirds are tied for 11th place with a 307 at the Rio Verde Country Club on the par-72, 6,215 yard White Wing Course.
"We came out on fire with probably the best start in my eight seasons here," head coach Darby Sligh said. "We had four players under par early, and we looked like we were going to take command. We bled a little in the middle of the round and that killed us on the leaderboard. There are still a few things holding us back that we are looking to remedy quickly heading into an early start Saturday."
Senior Lauren English led the Redbirds with a 2-over-par 74 in the opening round, ending the day tied for 13th on the individual leaderboard. English fired three birdies during the opening day of the invitational. Freshman Kiley Walsh shot a 77 and was followed by seniors Brianna Cooper and Hayley Guyton, who carded first-round scores of 78. Sophomore Renee Solberg was two shots behind the seniors with an 80.
Seton Hall leads the field, shooting 296, while Ohio (299) is three shots behind in second place. Toledo and Northern Illinois are tied for third place with a team score of 301 ahead of Wichita State (302) in fifth place. ISU leads Missouri Valley Conference rivals Missouri State (308) and Bradley (310).
The Redbirds will return to the course Saturday for the second round, which is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. (CST) with a shotgun start. Live scoring for the tournament is available at www.GolfStat.com.
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