ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Rogers State's
Jessica Green shot an RSU school record and St. Joseph Country Club competitive course record round of 65 (-7) on Monday in the opening round of the NCAA D2 Central Region Championships.
Green and the Hillcats both lead after day one. Green holds a five-shot lead over Allycia Gan (Missouri Western) for the individual lead. The Hillcats, who sit at +11, lead the team competition after round one, holding an eight-shot lead over Southwestern Oklahoma State and Arkansas Tech, who are tied at +19.
The junior started the day off with a birdie on the opening hole. After four-consecutive pars, Green reeled of three straight birdies on the par-5 sixth, par-3 seventh and par-4 eighth to move into the outright lead. Green closed the front nine with another par to sit at -4 at the turn.
On the back nine, Green opened up with another birdie and then scored back-to-back pars. On the 13
th hole, Green picked up a birdie, but it was followed by the only blemish on the South African's scorecard for the day as she bogeyed the par-4 14
th. However, Green immediately responded with another birdie. After two more pars, she closed the round with a birdie on the par-5 18
th to move to -7 for the round and stake claim to the records.
Green broke the Hillcat school record for a single round, which was previously held by current teammate
Raquel Flores, who fired a 66 (-6) at the MIAA Preview Invitational on September 25, 2019. Green's 65 on Monday also broke the St. Joseph Country Club Women's competitive course record.
Joining Green in the top five after round one is freshman
Marelda Ayal, who sits in a tie for fourth overall at +2 after 18 holes. Like Green, Ayal started the day strong and the Indonesian held the early lead after she birdied two of the first three holes to move to -2.
Ayal would then string together a pair of pars, followed by another birdie to retake sole possession of first at -3 through six holes. However, Ayal would pick up her first bogey on the right hole to fall back to -2 over the front nine. On the back nine, Ayal would have five pars and four bogeys to end the round with a 74.
Unger finished third for the Hillcats on day one, as she opened up the event with a 79. The freshman started off the round with a bogey on the first, but then strung together six pars before bogey on the final two holes of the front nine. Like Ayal, Unger would shoot five pars and four bogeys to finish at +7 and in a tie for 27
th in the 49-golfer field.
Seniors
Mariana Flores and
Sydney Murray would round out the scoring for the Hillcats. Both golfers shot +9 rounds of 81. Flores and Murray each finished with one birdie and eight pars in their rounds.
The Hillcats are set to return to the course Tuesday morning with tee times for the second round set to begin at 8:30 a.m. for Rogers State at the St. Joseph Country Club. With tee times and positions inverted from day one, the Hillcats will tee off on the 10
th hole for round two.
Hillcat Scorers
