Kiawah Island, S.C. – Senior Maya White countered five bogeys with an eagle and a birdie to shoot 2-over par 74 on Sunday to lead Western Carolina at the 2021 Kiawah Island Classic being contested between the Cougar Point and Oak Point golf courses at the Kiawah Island Resort. WCU carded a first-round 309 to sit in a tie for 23rd after 18 of the 54 scheduled holes, five strokes outside the top 10.
 
Bogeys on the second and third holes of her opening round left White 2-over par headed to the par-5 fourth. The Fletcher, N.C., native then carded an eagle on the 422-yard layout to move back to even-par for the day.  A third bogey on the front nine left her making the turn to the back at 1-over. Bogeys on the par-3 11th and par-4 14th left White 3-over for the round before carding a birdie on the par-3 15th to finish at 74.
 
Sophomore Victoria Ladd had two birdies within her first seven holes with a second bogey on the par-3 ninth to make the turn to the back even-par. She closed the first round with five pars, three bogeys, and a double-bogey to shoot 5-over, 77, tied for 77th in the standings. Junior Madison Isaacson turned to the back at 2-over par before finishing with a first-round 78, countering three bogeys and two double-bogeys with a birdie.
 
Rounding out WCU's scoring five are senior Hazel Martin in a tie for 139th with a first-round 8-over par 80 and classmate Cameron Wood in a tie for 179th with an 84 on the opening day. Martin carded 11 pars with five-straight on the back nine while Wood had nine pars with four-straight on the front nine.
 
ETSU (286) leads the 41-team field after 18 holes, carrying a six-stroke lead over second-place Dallas Baptist (292) into Monday's second round. Murray State is third at 293, followed by Northern Illinois (294) and Stetson (296) rounding out the top five. In addition to the first-place Buccaneers, the Southern Conference is represented by Wofford (305, 12th-t), UNCG (305, 12th-t), Samford (21st-t, 308), WCU (23rd-t, 309), and The Citadel (41st, 338).
 
Faith DeLaGarza of Dallas Baptist leads the 210-golfer field, shooting 5-under par 67 on Sunday. Towson's Jordan Cornelius and Raeysha Surendran of Murray State are tied for the runner-up spot, two strokes off the pace with matching first-round scores of 69.
 
Paired with golfers from Indiana State and Towson, WCU's scoring five hits the course on No. 1 of the Oak Point course beginning with an 8:40 am tee time. Live scoring is available through GolfStat with updates every nine holes.
 
T23 – Western Carolina – 309 (+21)
T20 – Maya White – 74 (+2)
T77 – Victoria Ladd – 77 (+5)
T93 – Madison Isaacson – 78 (+6)
T139 – Hazel Martin – 80 (+8)
T179 – Cameron Wood – 84 (+12)