Eatonton, Ga. – Sophomore Elizabeth Lohbauer carded an opening-round score of 2-over par 74 on Friday to hit the clubhouse amidst a five-way tie for 10th place after 18 of the scheduled 54 holes at the Reynolds Lake Oconee Invitational, hosted by Mercer at the par-72, 6,107-yard Great Waters Golf Club. WCU is in a three-way tie for eighth with a first-round score of 306, just four strokes outside the Top Five.
 
Saturday's second round has been bumped up to a 9 a.m. start, an hour earlier than previously announced. WCU's scoring five is paired with golfers from Boston College and Charlotte and is slated to open on the back nine from the No. 10 tee box beginning at 9 a.m. Live scoring is available online through GolfStat.
 
Opening on the front nine, Lohbauer countered a trio of bogeys with two birdies to make the turn to the back nine at 1-over par. A fourth bogey on the par-4 11th left her at 4-over for the day with the Venice, Fla., product closing the day with seven straight pars.
 
Fifth-year senior Victoria Ladd and sophomore Brie Mapanao sit tied with 11 others in 25th place after Friday's first round with matching scores of 4-over par 76. Ladd recovered from a pair of double-bogeys on the front nine with three birdies to sit at 1-over for the round with just four holes to play. However, she bogeyed three of those final four for the 4-over round. After back-to-back bogeys on the first two holes of the day, Mapanao completed the front nine with seven straight pars to make the turn at 2-over. Carding her lone birdie of Friday's round on the par-4 10th, Mapanao bogeyed three of her final eight holes for the 76.
 
Rounding out WCU's scoring five are redshirt junior Kayleigh Baker in an eight-way tie for 59th with a first-round score of 80, while junior Kaitlyn Wingnean fought through an opening-round 90, 81st in the standings. Baker carded two birdies on Friday – one aside – with Wingnean carding a birdie on the par-4, 344-yard third.
 
Playing unattached as an individual, Sadler Miller shot a 10-over par 82 to enter Saturday's second round in a three-way tie for 70th. Miller carded her lone birdie on the next-to-last hole
 
Tournament host Mercer leads the 14-team field by two strokes over second-place Delaware, carding an opening-round 294 with the Blue Hens shooting 296. Chattanooga is third, three strokes off the pace at 297, with Western Kentucky (300) and Florida Atlantic (302) rounding out the Top Five.
 
Alisha Khokhlova of Delaware has a one-stroke edge over Chattanooga's Makenzie Cooper, firing two-under par 70 with Cooper at 1-under par 71. Team leader Mercer has its top two golfers in a three-way tie for third at even-par 72.
 
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