CARROLLTON, Texas. - The Rogers State women's golf team opened up the 2021 season on Sunday with the first round of the University of Central Missouri Southern Invitational hosted at Indian Creek Golf Club.
On a windy opening day with several tough pin placements, all five Hillcats beat the scoring average for the tournament field, which sits at 84.72 after day one. The Hillcats had four golfers finish in the top half of the 53-player field after round one of the three-round event and the Hillcats sit fourth in a nine-team field.
Rogers State also had nine birdies, led by
Sydney Murray and freshman
Marelda Ayal with three birdies each.
Seniors
Mariana Flores and Murray, along with junior
Jessica Green, sit atop the leaderboard for the Hillcats after all three finished the opening round with rounds of 81.
Players of Note: Green had just one birdie, but finished the round with 11 pars. Green was sitting among the leaders for most of the round and was at +4 through 15 holes before losing five shots over the final three holes.
Flores started her day with a birdie on the first hole and also added a birdie on the 10
th. She also had six pars for the round.
Murray had the best start of the day for the Hillcats. After pars on the opening two holes, Murray scored back-to-back birdies and then another par. Murray made the turn at +1, but shot a 44 on the back nine to fall to +9.
Grace Williams rounded out the scoring for the Hillcats on day one. Williams finished with 10 pars on the day.
Ayal competed in her first collegiate round, which was highlighted by three birdies in a five-hole stretch
Up Next: The Hillcats will be back on the course on Monday for the second round of the Southern Invitational. The round begins at 8 a.m. with Hillcats set to start teeing off from 10:39 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.
