RIO VERDE, Ariz. – Behind a strong opening day from the Redbird trio of Avalon Woodward, Ali Schrock, and Dani Grace Schrock, the Illinois State Redbirds continued their strong start of the 2023 spring season by standing in a tie of seventh place through 18 holes.
After the first of three days the Redbirds' 307 is tied with Missouri State and Wichita State. The 'Birds trail Cal Baptist (293), Xavier (296), Kennesaw State (298), Ball State (303), Butler (303), and Western Michigan (303). ISU and the pair of schools tied with the 'Birds are ahead of Central Michigan (308), Loyola (308), Akron (309), Bradley (310), Oakland (310), Bowling Green (313), Ohio (314), South Dakota (314), and Eastern Michigan (316) rounded out the 18 schools in the field.
Leading the way for the Redbirds was Avalon Woodward, who is tied for 12th in the field of 93 golfers with an opening-round score of 74 (+2). She opened her day with a bogey on her first hole and answered back with a birdie to push back to even par. Three pars followed as she then traded a birdie for a bogey on the sixth and seventh holes, going into the turn at even par. She opened her back nine with a bogey, and after two pars a birdie dropped her back to even par, where she stayed after four straight birdies. She stumbled at the end with a double-bogey on the 18th hole to finish with the two-over 74.
Ali Schrock is tied for 21st individually with a three-over 75 opening round to the tournament. Opening on the first hole she had two bogeys and seven pars over her front nine, making the turn at two strokes over par. She opened her back nine with four pars before she closed with a double bogey, birdie, bogey, par, and birdie to finish with a three-over 75 in the round.
Opening on the second hole, Dani Grace Schrock started her round with a double bogey, par and bogey, before following with five straight pars. Back-to-back holes over par pushed her aggregate score to six strokes over par; however, she closed strong with seven pars and a bogey to finish with a five-over 77 in the opening round to tie for 32nd.
Mid-year addition Michaela Kverkova finished her round with a nine-over 81, a round that saw nine pars and two birdies, while Kira Wolf opened her tournament with 11 pars en route to a 10-over 82.
The Redbirds return to action on Saturday with a 2 p.m. (CT) tee time.
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Â Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
