CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Junior Kristin Glesne carded a career-best, two-under-par 70 to lead the University of Iowa women’s golf team on day one of the Ruth Chris Tar Heel Invitational. The Hawkeyes carded a 299 (+11) over the first 18 holes and are tied for 14th overall.
After starting the tournament on a challenging back nine, Iowa battled back after the turn. The Hawkeyes tallied 40 holes at-or-below par on the front nine to move up the leaderboard. No. 6 Duke leads the 18-team field at 283 (-5), while No. 14 South Carolina is in second at 284 (-4).
Twelve of the field’s 18 teams are ranked in the top-50 of the latest Golfweek rankings, including No. 1 Arkansas, No. 2 Alabama, No. 6 Duke, No. 9 Michigan State, No. 14 South Carolina, No. 16 Vanderbilt, No. 24 Virginia, No. 28 Wake Forest, No. 31 NC State, No. 34 North Carolina, No. 45 Ohio State, and No. 46 Louisville.
GLESNE’S CAREER ROUND
Glesne utilized five birdies, including three straight on holes 14, 15, and 16. She registered 15 holes at-or-below par en route to a career-best 70 (-2) -- her second under-par round of the season. She is tied for seventh heading into Saturday’s second round.
QUOTING GLESNE
“My goal for today was to stay present and take it one hole at a time, and I think I did a pretty good job of that. I had to battle back after starting the round two-over through two holes, but I made a 28-footer on hole 14 and used that momentum from there.”
IOWA SCORECARD
T-14.
Iowa
299
+11
T-7.
Kristin Glesne
70
-2
T-41.
Jessica Ip
74
+2
T-69.
Shawn Rennegarbe
77
+5
T-75.
Stephanie Herzog
78
+6
T-84.
Elisa Suarez
79
+7
QUOTING HEAD COACH MEGAN MENZEL
“I liked how we kept our composure today. We didn’t get off to a great start on a back nine that is a little bit more challenging, but we came back and played a much cleaner front nine. We settled in and started hitting the ball better. We competed all day long even when it was challenging.
“Tomorrow we just have to stay present, take it one shot at a time, and see if we can clean up things on the back nine. If we do that then we will be in good shape.”
HAWKEYE DEBUT
Freshman Stephanie Herzog registered a six-over-par 78 in her first round as a Hawkeye. After making the turn at five over, Herzog made par on eight of her final nine holes.
UP NEXT
The Ruth Chris Tar Heel Invitational continues tomorrow. The Hawkeyes will tee off hole 10 beginning at 8:54 a.m. (CT). Live scoring is available at golfstat.com.