NORMAL, Ill. – Behind a 36-hole standing of fourth place from Elise Fennell, the Illinois State women's golf team opened the first day of their home Redbird Invitational in eighth place and within climbing distance over the final 18 holes of the tournament.
ISU carded rounds of 307 and 297, as their 604 has them trailing just seven other schools. South Dakota leads the field after the first day with a 585 (295-290), with Butler (589), Bowling Green (590), Eastern Kentucky (591), Northern Illinois (596), South Dakota State (600), and Drake (601) are just ahead of ISU. Trailing the Redbirds include Illinois Wesleyan (617), Dayton (620), Loyola-Chicago (620), Indiana State (621), Evansville (622), Northern Iowa (648), IU Indy (648), and Valparaiso (697).
Fennell's rounds of 72 and 73 have her with a 145, three strokes off the individual lead with a round to play. Her season-opening round of 72 on the first time around the course had three birdies and 13 pars, while she added two birdies and 13 more pars on the second round and is tied for fourth overall.
Dani Grace Schrock opened with a 77 before bouncing back with a one-under 71 on her second round. Overall, her first loop around Weibring Golf Course she had two birdies and 10 pars, before bouncing back with four birdies and 11 pars. Her four-over overall score has her tied for 13th in the strong tournament field.
Reagan Kennedy and Alex Sparrow are neck-in-neck for the third spot on the team, as Kennedy used a 36-hole score of 155 and Sparrow a 156 to stand tied for 42nd and 45th, respectively. Kennedy had two birdies and 21 pars on the day, while Sparrow had three birdies and 21 pars overall.
The team heads back to the course on Monday for the third and final round, as Fennell (hole 7A), Schrock (7B), Kennedy (8), and Sparrow (9A) tee off at 8:30 a.m. on the shotgun start final day.
