RIO VERDE, Ariz. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's golf team shot an opening-round 330 to sit in 18th place at the Rio Verde Invitational on the White Wing Course of Rio Verde Country Club on Friday.
Olivia Lowe led the way with an 80, while Julia Dereniwsky posted an 82. Ana Paredes and Anna Millet-Esteve each shot 84, with Nagisa Miura rounding out the scoring with an 86.
Lowe had a tough start to her round, starting with a par on the 17th, but following that with a triple bogey seven on the par-4 18th. But she refused to yield, and bounced back with a par on the first and a birdie four on the second. She then closed out the front nine even, with a bogey on six and a birdie on nine. She delivered three straight pars from 10 through 12, but finished her round with a double and three bogeys to enter the clubhouse eight over.
Dereniwsky began her round with consecutive pars on 15 and 16, but a bogey on 17 and a double on 18 set her back to three-over. She followed that with a double on the first, but closed out the front nine with six pars and two bogeys to sit plus-7 heading to the 10th. On the 10th, she posted a double, but consecutive pars followed that, before two additional bogeys left her with an 82.
Paredes got out of the gate with a double on 15, but rebounded to close the back nine with three pars in a row. Bogeys on the first and second pushed her to plus-4, but she went on a string of four consecutive pars to remain there. Consecutive bogeys on seven, eight and nine put her seven-over, and she posted three bogeys and a double in the next four, finishing with an 84.
Millet-Esteve wound up with bogeys on 17 and 18 to start her opening round, but bounced back with pars on one, two and three to remain plus-2. But she followed that with four bogeys and a double before closing the front nine with a par to head to the turn at plus-8. She parred the 10th, but followed that with a double on 11, then went par-bogey-bogey-par before closing the round with a par on 16.
Miura got out to a tough start with two doubles and two bogeys to sit at plus-6 heading to the second. She followed with consecutive pars on two and three, but four straight bogeys and a double set her back to plus-12. She delivered a birdie three on the ninth, then posted three pars and three bogeys to finish with an 86.
The Islanders will tee off in round two of the Rio Verde Invitational at 8 a.m. PT on Saturday. Live updates will be provided on GolfStat.com as well as via Twitter (@IslandersGolf).
