“It’s hard when you only get one practice round,” said Coach Hester. “We are still learning the golf course, so our expectations were under control and several of the girls did get off to a great start.”

Clemson were led out by Melena Barrientos, who struck the first ball of the championship from the 10th tee at 6.40am local time. Barrientos finished with a one under par 71 and was one of three Clemson players to beat par on the 6,330-yard layout. 

We are still learning the golf course, so our expectations were under control

Annabella Pancake, ranked 43 in the National Collegiate Golf Rankings, went two better for the Tigers but even her 69 was eclipsed by teammate Isabella Rawl (pictured below), who blazed round in a six-under-par 66.

“For Isabella to shoot six under on this golf course is very impressive,” said Hester. “The rest of the team hung in there while learning the course and stayed very mentally strong and adjusted where they needed to. I felt like we played consistently and took advantage of some of the opportunities we had.” 

Rawl’s course record stood for a matter of minutes because playing two groups behind her, Florida State’s Lottie Woad was going even deeper. The 65 from this year’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion and the No.3 ranked college player in the country was the lowest ever round shot by a Seminoles player at the Nationals.

“I drove the ball well and left myself in pretty much every fairway,” said Woad (pictured above), afterwards. “I’m feeling really good. I put myself in pretty much every fairway; I’m going to keep those lines off the tee for tomorrow.”

Woad was in control of every part of her game, plundering eight birdies on undulating greens softened by overnight rain. The English player is an astonishing 62 under par in her 19 tournaments as a Seminole. An NCAA Individual Championship would be a fitting way to round out what has been an outstanding season from the sophomore. Florida State finished the day at one under.

In the afternoon wave, Texas A&M made the most concerted charge at the target set by Clemson, closing to within a shot. Aggies freshman Cayetana Fernandez made the turn at four under and signed for a 68. It was a score matched by her teammate Adela Cernousek, who made five birdies in a six-hole stretch in the middle of her round.

I’m super proud of the fight because that finish was really tough

“Provided the conditions, I thought the afternoon wave was definitely tougher especially that finish, it got cool and windy,” said Texas A&M Head Coach Gerrod Chadwell.

“Our scorecard was pretty clean, but we need to clean up some putting stuff. I’m super proud of the fight because that finish was really tough. We didn’t get off to the cleanest of starts but we had a heck of a back nine and put us in position to hopefully get another one early in the morning.”

Tucked in behind Woad and Rawl on the individual leaderboard are five players on four under par. Alongside the two Texas A&M golfers are Oklahoma State’s Maddison Hinson-Tolchard, who helped her team to finish at one under par.

Louisa Carlbom of San Jose State pushed her team to a two under par finish that had them comfortably in the higher echelons of the leaderboard. Late in the day, Sophie Linder of Ole Miss got to six under par but had to settle for 68. 

In the morning wave, Pepperdine, seeded 19, made a fast start, getting to five under par as a team. The red numbers evaporated on the way home and the Waves finished back at +3.

Stanford went in the opposite direction, gathering momentum as they went deeper into the afternoon. Cardinal finished three under par (T3), with all four counting scores at par or better. They were joined at three under by Auburn and Northwestern.

As the marine layer evaporated and the wind picked up, the inward nine proved particularly tricky. There were only three birdies all day on the 140-yard, par-3 16th, which architect Gil Hanse has described as an homage to 12 at Augusta. A combination of a firm, slender green and a following breeze meant it was a hole most players were happy to make par at and move on. Many did not.

Among the pre-tournament favorites to struggle, UCLA ended the day on three over; defending champions Wake Forest finished +7 (T18); South Carolina were at +8 (20); tournament hosts Texas ended the day tied for 21st at 11 over par.

Leading teams
1. Clemson -8
2. Texas A&M -7
T3. Stanford -3
T3. Auburn -3
T3. Northwestern -3
T6. San Jose State -2
T6. Duke -2
T6. Arizona State -2

Main image by Dan Foster / Lottie Woad & Isabella Rawls images courtesy of the NCAA