Chapel Hill, N.C. – The Western Carolina women’s golf team is tied for 14th with Florida International after 18 of the scheduled 54 holes at the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational, hosted by the University of North Carolina at the par-70, 6,081-yard Finley Golf Course.
 
Senior Elizabeth Lohbauer and freshman Madison Lehr both shot 5-over par 75 in the opening round to sit among a 12-way tie for 41st overall. Freshman Ella Kozak is two strokes back with a 7-over par 77 in a tie for 60th, with junior Sadler Miller in a tie for 69th with a first-round 79. Rounding out WCU’s scores on Friday was freshman Annalee Caveney who turned in an 80 as the drop score.
 
Lohbauer was even par through nine holes and was poised for a 2-over par round before a triple-bogey on the par-5 ninth relegated her to 75. Lehr countered six bogeys with one birdie on Friday for her 5-over round. Kozak closed her opening 18 holes with her lone birdie while Miller carded consecutive birdies on the par4 second and par-4 third. Caveney carded par on nine of her opening 18 holes in the highly-competitive field.
 
SEC-foe Kentucky combined for a 4-over par opening round score of 284 to lead the 17-team field by two strokes over a two-way tie between Michigan State and Wake Forest with matching scores of 286. Louisville sits fourth, three strokes off the pace at 287 and Tennessee rounds out the top five with a score of 290 after Friday’s first round.
 
Carolina Lopez-Chacarra of Wake Forest shot a 3-under par 67 to carry a stroke lead over a two-way tie for second between Andie Smith of Duke and NC State’s Marie Madsen at 68 in the individual medalist competition.
 
Paired with golfers from directional rival East Carolina and Florida International, WCU’s scoring five hits the course on the back nine for a second-straight day with tee times beginning at 9:20 a.m. Live scoring through GolfStat is available online through a link at CatamountSports.com.
 
Keep track of everything related to Catamount women’s golf and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, @CatamountWGolf).
 
 
T14 – Western Carolina – 306
T41 – Elizabeth Lohbauer – 75 (+5)
T41 – Madison Lehr – 75 (+5)
T60 – Ella Kozak – 77 (+7)
T69 – Sadler Miller – 79 (+9)
T77 – Annalee Caveney – 80 (+10)