HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Furman leads the 2023 Southern Conference Women’s Golf Championship by four strokes and the Paladins’ Anna Morgan holds the individual lead after the first day of competition at Moss Creek Golf Club’s par-72, 6,036-yard South course.
 
The 62^nd-ranked Paladins, the highest ranking amongst SoCon teams, are 9-over-par 297 after round one. Western Carolina is in second after shooting a 13-over-par 301. The Catamounts entered the tournament as the fourth-highest ranked team in the conference according to Golfstat rankings.
 
Morgan shot a 2-under 70 in round one to hold a one-stroke lead over Western Carolina’s Madison Isaacson. A trio of players – ETSU’s Sophie Bert, Furman’s Chloe Johnson and Wofford’s Nicole Amos – are tied for third place as each shot an even-par 72 on day one of the championship.
 
The Paladins, who are seeking their second straight SoCon title and seventh in the last eight played, have three players in the top 10. Joining Morgan and Johnson is Carolina Crumrine, who is tied for 10^th with Mercer’s Kate Song and Wofford’s Maggie Jackson, after shooting a 4-over 76 in round one.
 
Western Carolina has a pair of players in the top 10 in Isaacson and Elizabeth Lohbauer, who is tied for sixth with UNCG’s Ava Romfo and Mercer’s Mikayla Dubnik after shooting 2-over 74.
 
Mercer and ETSU are tied for third as each squad is six shots back from Western Carolina. Wofford is in fifth place after a first-round score of 23-over-par 311, while Samford is in sixth at 25-over-par 313. UNCG shot 28-over-par 316 to finish seventh after day one.
 
Chattanooga is in eighth place, two shots back of UNCG. The Mocs’ Dorota Zalewska, the 2022 SoCon individual champion, is tied for 13^th with Samford’s Bailey Dunstan after shooting 5-over 77. The Citadel rounds out the team scoring in ninth at 351 after the first round of play.
 
Round two of the championship will begin with threesomes at 8:30 a.m. Monday. Live stats can be found here.