Maricopa, Ariz. – Battling through windy and hot playing conditions on Saturday that saw elevated scores across the field, Western Carolina true freshman Brie Mapanao climbed two positions into a tie for seventh place as the Catamounts have two in contention inside the top 10 after 36 holes at the inaugural National Golf Invitational.
 
Mapanao is in a two-way tie for seventh at 1-over par 145, joining sophomore Elizabeth Lohbauer who is in third place to give the Catamounts two among the individual leaders. WCU slipped into seventh in the team standings just six strokes outside of the top five with one round to play.
 
The final round of the first-ever invitational postseason event is scheduled for Sunday at the par-72, 6,318-yard Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club. The season's final round opens at 7:30 a.m. MST / 10:30 a.m. ET. Playing with golfers from Middle Tennessee in pairs, the Catamount scoring five hits the course off the No. 1 tee beginning at 8:05 a.m. MST / 11:05 a.m. ET on Sunday. Live scoring through GolfStat is available online through a link at CatamountSports.com.
 
Mapanao was WCU's biggest gainer on the day, countering a trio of bogeys with two birdies for the 1-over par 73. A bogey two holes in was countered by her first of two birdies on the par-3 sixth to make the turn to the back nine even. A bogey on the par-4 12th relegated her to 1-over before she birdied the par-5 13th for the second time in as many tries to move back even.
 
Mapanao charted a bogey on the par-3 17th for the second time to hit the clubhouse at 1-over 145.
 
After shooting even-par through her first 11 holes on Friday in a bogey-free round, Lohbauer was 2-over par on the front nine Saturday with a pair of bogeys against seven pars. The Venice, Fla., native was 4-over par through 12 holes before rallying to close the final six holes at 2-under with birdies on the par-4 14th and par-5 16th.
 
Lohbauer paces the field in par-4 scoring through 36 holes at 3-under par (3.85) and has a team-best six birdies.
 
Fifth-year senior Madison Isaacson overcame a quadruple bogey on the par-5 third hole Saturday, finishing her round at 6-over 78 including 15 pars and two bogeys. Isaacson recovered nicely from the +4 just three holes into her penultimate collegiate round, sliding into a tie for 29th with 18 holes to play. Isaacson matched Lohbauer for a team-best 26 pars through 36 holes of play, one more than Mapanao with 25.
 
Rounding out WCU's scoring five is senior Victoria Ladd in a tie for 46th at 160 and sophomore Kaitlyn Wingnean in a tie for 48th two strokes back at 162. Ladd charted 10 pars on Saturday with Wingnean matching her two birdies from Friday with two in the second round – both coming on the front nine over the second 18 holes.
 
Penn State continues to lead the 10-team field, carrying a five-stroke, 585-to-590, advantage into Sunday's final round over hard-charging Santa Clara which advanced seven spots into second just six strokes off the lead. Iowa slipped to third a stroke in arrears of the runner-up spot at 591, with Mercer (593) and UC-Riverside (594) rounding out the top five.
 
First-round leader Michelle Cox of Penn State carries a two-stroke lead into Sunday's final round over second-place Shannyn Vogler of Iowa who is up two spots into the runner-up position at 138-to-140. Lohbauer is third just four strokes off the pace at 142 with the four-way tie for fourth six strokes in arrears from the top spot.
 
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2023 National Golf Invitational
After 36 Holes | Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club
1 – Penn State – 288 – 297 = 585 (+9)
2 – Santa Clara – 299 – 291 = 590 (+14)
3 – Iowa – 289 – 302 = 591 (+15)
4 – Mercer – 293 – 300 =593 (+17)
5 – UC-Riverside – 296 – 298 = 594 (+18)
6 – Texas State – 294 – 303 = 597 (+21)
t7 – Western Carolina – 294 – 306 = 600 (+24)
t7 – Middle Tennessee – 291 – 309 = 600 (+24)
t9 – Grand Canyon – 298 – 312 = 610 (+34)
t9 – Seattle – 308 – 302 = 610 (+34)
 
T7 – Western Carolina – 294 – 306 = 600 (+24)
3 – Elizabeth Lohbauer – 68 – 74 = 142 (-2)
T7 – Brie Mapanao – 72 – 73 = 145 (+1)
T29 – Madison Isaacson – 75 – 78 = 153 (+9)
T46 – Victoria Ladd – 79 – 81 = 160 (+16)
T48 – Kaitlyn Wingnean – 80 – 82 = 162 (+18)