CMS Women's Golf Just Six Back in Tight Team Battle after First Day of NCAAs

GolfStat Scoring

HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's golf team stands in sixth place, just six shots off the lead, after the first day of the NCAA Division III Golf Championships on Tuesday at Mission Inn Resort.

The course played tough and scores were high across the board, with nobody in the 152-player field shooting even par. CMS stands at +29, with Emory in first at +23, followed by George Fox (+26), WashU (+27), Carnegie Mellon (+27) and Redlands (+28). Methodist is two shots behind CMS at +31, Pomona-Pitzer is three shots back at +32, with Centre at +33 and Trinity at +34, as the top 10 are all separated by only 11 shots. 

Stella Cheng and Ella Chiu tied for the low round of the day for CMS with 79 on the par-73 course, leaving them in a tie at +6. Esther Lee is just one shot behind at +7, while Jeissy Lee was the fourth scorer for the Athenas on the first day with a +10.

Nina McMurtrey of Centre College leads with a +1, while Hannah Jugar of Redlands is in a tie for second at +2. Chiu and Cheng are tied for 15th, with Esther Lee tied for 23rd.

Birdies were hard to come by with the course playing tough, as CMS managed just six as a team, with Esther Lee managing two (one on the 8th hole - her 17th of the day after starting at No. 10). Chiu also picked up a birdie on her 18th hole of the day (No. 9) to move into a tie with Cheng for the low round for the Athenas. 

The second day of the NCAA Women's Golf Championships will get underway tomorrow at 7:20 a.m. (Eastern time).