SILVIS, Ill. – On a windy day at TPC Deere Creek in Silvis, Illinois, the entire field struggled throughout, as ISU closed the first day in 10th place at the yearly Missouri Valley Conference Championship.
Murray State is the first-day leader with a 304, while Bradley (307), Drake (312), Belmont (312), Southern Illinois (320), UIC (322), Indiana State (323), Evansville (325), and Northern Iowa (327) are all in the sights of the Redbirds' 329, while Valparaiso closed out the first day with a 346.
Leading the way for ISU is reigning MVC Freshman of the Year Elise Fennell, who used a six-over 78 to tie for 13th a third of the way through the tournament. Fennell had two birdies, tied for the ninth-most in the tournament field, while her 4.25 stroke per average on par fours is tied for the fourth-best in the tournament.
Reagan Kennedy is tied for 24th after her opening-round 80, as she had 10 pars on the day on the 5,954-yard course. Reagan Braker was ISU's third golfer on the day, and her opening round 85 is tied for 42nd as she had seven pars on the day.
Alex Sparrow had a birdie and seven pars for a 14-over 86, which is tied for 45th, while Dani Grace Schrock's opening-round 89 is in 50th place, while her par three scoring average of 3.00 is tied for the second-lowest in the tournament.
The Redbirds start tomorrow morning in the second round at 10:30 a.m.
