First Round Results
RIO VERDE, Ariz. – Three Illinois State women's golfer carded 6-over-par 78s, as the Redbirds concluded first-round play Friday in Western Michigan's Rio Verde Invitational at the par-72, 6,215-yard White Wing Golf Course. Illinois State shot a 317 and sits in 17th place after 18 holes. UMKC leads the 19-team field with a 295, five strokes ahead of Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois.
Junior Kiley Walsh (39-39), senior Renee Solberg (36-42) and freshman Paige Seiser (36-42) were the trio who led the Redbirds in the first round. Solberg recorded three birdies while Walsh and Seiser finished with one.
Sophomore Caitlin Sims rounded out the team scoring for Illinois State with an 83 (38-45). Junior Abby Luchtenburg shot an 86 (44-42), but her score did not count towards the team's total. Senior Maggie Ambrose, who is playing as an individual, finished with an 82.
"We had a few holes sink our ship today," head coach Darby Sligh said. "We are starting to string together longer runs of holes but haven't been able to finish the way we want. I am looking forward to watching how we bounce back tomorrow. There's a lot of golf left to be played."
The Redbirds continue play Saturday with the second round starting with an 11 a.m. CT shotgun start, before concluding the tournament Sunday with the final 18 holes.
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