ORLANDO, Fla. – The Penn State women's golf team carded a 2-over, 290, and currently sit tied for 14th in the 18-team field after the opening round of the UCF Challenge on Sunday afternoon at Eagle Creek Golf Club.
Wake Forest leads the field after an eye-popping round of 20-under while Northwestern is four strokes off the lead at 16-under. Mississippi State and UCF are tied for third at 11-under while Michigan State and the College of Charleston round out the top-5 in a tie for fifth at 8-under.
Senior Sarah Willis (Eaton, Ohio) paced the Nittany Lions with a bogey-free 70 (2-under) and is currently tied for 22nd in the 96-player field.
"I was hitting the ball really well and gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities on the greens," mentioned Willis. "I stayed super consistent hitting 16 greens in regulation and not making any bogies."
Senior Mathilde Delavallade (Royan, France) drained a team-high four birdies finishing the round 1-under, 71, following a 2-under, 33, on the front nine, her second nine of the day.
Senior Isha Dhruva (Katy, Texas) and sophomore Drew Nienhaus (St. Louis, Mo.) rounded out the four countable team scores with first round totals of 2-over, 74, and 3-over, 75, respectively.
Playing as an individual, senior Taylor Waller (Canonsburg, Pa.) carded a season-low 1-under, 71, and is tied with Delavallade for 34th entering Monday's second round.
Sophomore Michelle Cox (Allentown, Pa.) rounded out the day with a 6-over, 78.
The Nittany Lions are back on the course tomorrow morning paired with Old Dominion and North Texas and once again going off hole 10 with tee times beginning at 9:15 a.m.
Complete round one results available HERE.
