Western Carolina opens spring at UCF Challenge
ORLANDO – Western Carolina freshman Maddi Caldwell carded an opening-round score of 6-over-par 78 on Sunday to lead the Catamounts at the spring-opening UCF Challenge being held at the par-72, 6,349-yard Eagle Creek Golf Club. WCU sits in 17th place after the first round with 36 holes to play.
The second round gets underway on Monday morning with tee times beginning at 8:45 a.m. WCU’s scoring five will be paired with golfers from Mississippi State and Daytona State College and will go off the back nine beginning at 8:39 a.m., with Caldwell hitting the course at 9:15 a.m.
Opening the event on the back nine, Caldwell was at 1-under par through her first three holes with a birdie on the par-4 12th. After a bogey on the par-4 14th, the Dawsonville, Ga., native was poised to carry an even-par score to the front nine before a triple-bogey on the par-5 18th left her plus-3 at the turn.
On the front nine, Caldwell carded six pars against three bogeys to finish the first round at 6-over 78, sitting in a tie for 47th overall in the 96-golfer field.
Senior Kim Mitchell is one stroke off her freshman teammate after shooting 7-over-par 79 on Sunday to sit in a tie for 59th overall.
Rounding out WCU’s scoring five were senior Mariah Hopkins in a tie for 65th (+8, 80), while junior Bethany Galloway and freshman Natalia Villavicencio both finished among a tie for 78th at 10-over 82.
No. 42 Houston fired an opening-round team score of 7-over-par 295 to carry a four-stroke lead over second-place No. 39 Texas into Monday’s second round. No. 25 Missouri and No. 15 Iowa State both stand tied with Augusta at 13-over-par 301 to round out the top five.
Michelle Butler of Missouri and Tulane’s Emily Penttila are tied for the tournament’s individual lead after carding matching first-round scores of 1-under-par 71. That duo is followed by a five-way tie for third at even-par 72.