Johns Creek, Ga. – Western Carolina women's golf stood in a two-way tie for sixth place after scores were confirmed from Monday's opening round of the Georgia State Invitational at the par-72, 6,170-yard Rivermont Golf Club. Teams were just a couple of holes shy of completing the second 18 holes on Monday when darkness encompassed the course leaving the field just shy of 36 holes.
 
Play will resume as teams will complete the second round before beginning the third and final round on Tuesday morning with a shotgun start. Live scoring through GolfStat is available through a link at CatamountSports.com.
 
Inclement weather delayed the start of the first round on Monday morning with teams facing wet conditions as they took the course to begin competition. The weather delay and a slower-than-normal pace of play with the saturated course led to the teams finishing just shy of completing the first round. Checking live stats online, only nine golfers confirmed final scores from the second round.
 
WCU was led in the first round by true freshman Brie Mapanao and sophomore Kaitlyn Wingnean in a tie for 11th with matching scores of 2-over par 74. Mapanao overcame a double-bogey on her first hole of the day Monday with a birdie on the par-4 eighth to make the turn to the back at 1-over par. The Australian-born striker countered two bogeys with a second birdie to finish at 2-over par for the day. Making her return to the Catamount scoring five, Wingnean countered five bogeys with a trio of birdies for her 74. Wingnean closed her round with six-consecutive pars.
 
Fifth-year senior Madison Isaacson was tied for 21st with an opening-round score of 3-over par 75 on Monday, countering a triple-bogey and four bogeys with a pair of birdies and an eagle on the par-4, 300-yard 11th. Classmate Victoria Ladd was a stroke back at 4-over par 76 in a tie for 28th with sophomore Elizabeth Lohbauer rounding out WCU's side in a tie for 35th overall at 5-over par, 77. Ladd shot par on 14 holes with four bogeys while Lohbauer battled through her first round by countering seven bogeys with a pair of birdies.
 
Playing unattached as an individual, redshirt sophomore Kayleigh Baker posted a first-round score of 83 to sit in a tie for 77th overall. Baker had 11 pars over the first 18 holes including five over her final eight holes of the opening round.
 
Tournament host Georgia State, Lipscomb, and Troy each stood tied for first after the opening round with matching scores of 8-over par 296. Charleston Southern was fourth a stroke in arrears at 297 with Eastern Kentucky in fifth at 298. WCU was tied with Charlotte for sixth at 299 as the top seven teams were within three strokes of the lead and the Top 10 all within 11 total strokes.
 
A complete recap of Tuesday's action and results from the second and third rounds will be made available online at CatamountSports.com.
 
Keep track of everything related to Catamount women's golf and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, @CatamountWGolf).
 
T6 – Western Carolina – 299 = 299 (+11)
T11 – Brie Mapanao (2) – 74 = 74 (+2)
T11 – Kaitlyn Wingnean (5) – 74 = 74 (+2)
T21 – Madison Isaacson (3) – 75 = 75 (+3)
T28 – Victoria Ladd (4) – 76 = 76 (+4)
T35 – Elizabeth Lohbauer (1) – 77 = 77 (+5)
T77 – Kayleigh Baker (ind.) – 83 = 83 (+11)