Seniors Sandra Maier and Cathrine Madsen led the way with a pair of 77s (+5) as Georgia State women's golf battled through the opening round at the Golfweek Conference Challenge in Las Vegas, Nev. Sunday at the par-72 6,135 yard Primm Valley Desert Course.
Maier and Madsen kept pace for the Panthers with a combined +10 effort, each finishing with a share of 34th place overall.
Georgia State shot a 318 (+30) to finish the day in 15th of 18 teams in the desert. Contributing to the finish was the fact that freshman Ellie Robinson was forced to withdraw during the opening round, leaving the Panthers with only four golfers.
Junior Iliska Verwey finished the day in 66th after carding an 81 (+9). Sophomore Charlotte Lorentzen finished in 79th after posting an 83 (+11).
With two days remaining, Georgia State will have to look to make up ground on leaders Oklahoma State (+7) and Chattanooga (+8).
In the individual competition, Oklahoma State's Caroline Hedwall fired a 68 (-4) to lead all competitors by three strokes.
Finishing behind Oklahoma State and Chattanooga are Ohio State (+10), Pepperdine (+10), California (+12), East Tennessee State (+14), UNLV (+16), Ball State (+19), UC Irvine (+19), Oral Roberts (+22), Harvard (+22), Drake (+23), Coastal Carolina (+23), Jacksonville State (+29), Southern Methodist (+33), Fresno State (+36), and Portland State (+40).
"I can't really put my finger on it there's no way we should have shot the scores we shot today, but it just happens," said Georgia State head coach Cathy Mant. "If it could happen it happened to us today after Ellie's injury. It was hot, but we'll have to be the comeback team tomorrow and the rest of the week. We're going to monitor Ellie and if she feels like she can go tomorrow, then she'll play, and we'll hope to have a better result."
Georgia State will take to the course Monday to try to mount a comeback at the Golfweek Conference Challenge. Live scoring is available at www.GolfStat.com. Full results will be posted at www.GeorgiaStateSports.com at the close of competition.
