Georgia State opened the first day of the Cardinal Cup in a tie for 15th place among the 17 teams. GSU, playing with two freshmen and two untested sophomores, carded rounds of 328 and 312 for a 640 score after the 10 1/2 hours and 36 holes of competition.
Freshman Emily Royer carded the best round of the day for GSU with a 1-under 71 on the second round after an opening round 80 to sit in a tie for 21st at 151 in a field of 101 golfers.
Georgia State's score does not include junior veteran Julie Lied's score as she was entered as an individual only and posted rounds of 76 and 76 to tie for 28th.
Sophomore Jooeun Bae added a 77 on her second 18 holes for a 160 two-round total. Senior Lauren Court posted 83-81 for 164. Sophomore Solene Le Coz had 82-83, while freshman Paula Zabarte added 85-84 in her collegiate debut day.
"I was really proud to see Emily post an under-par round on her first day of college competition," coach Cathy Mant said. "We had a horrible first round, improved by 16 strokes in the second round and now our goal will be to shoot our best round Tuesday."
"I was glad to see Julie play better after not having good qualifying rounds in Atlanta before this tournament, so her talent is starting to come through and that can be good for us," coach added.
"We seemed nervous today at the start and played a long way from our best golf," Mant noted. "This course has thick bluegrass along the fairways and if you get it in, it is a challenge to get out and we aren't used to that on Atlanta area courses, so that caused us to put up some big numbers on some holes."
"I also was proud to see Jooeun hang in there and come back with a 77 in her second round," Mant said. "She's never played a 36-hole day like this in college, so she fought through the fatigue and put up a respectable score."
"I'm not pleased with the score, but I'm pleased with the effort and determination they showed on this tough day, so we'll try to improve tomorrow and build on the experience," Mant concluded.
The teams will play the final 18 holes on Tuesday.
MTSU sits in first place, followed by host Louisville in second and Memphis in third.
