Greenville, SC – Graduate student Sarah May used her long irons to attack the greens at the Furman University Golf Course on Friday in the opening round of the Lady Paladin Invitational.
 
She hopes that her putter catches up to her iron play on Saturday, which would allow her to fight her way up the leaderboard after an opening round one-under par 71 has her tied for sixth in the event.
 
May's 71 was her first collegiate competition round under par since March 11, 2020, when she posted a final round 70 in the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational in Hawai'i. That event turned out to be the final athletic event for Stetson before the Covid pandemic shut down college athletics at Stetson for several months.
 
May was one under at the turn with a birdie on the par four fifth hole on the front nine. She started the back nine with a bogey, but bounced back with a birdie on the par five 11^th hole and then parred out for the rest of her round.
 
The Hatters turned in a team round of 296 on Friday and are tied with ASUN rival North Florida for sixth in the 13-team event. Host Furman took advantage of its knowledge of the course to post a team score of eight-under par 280, taking a 12-shot lead on the field.
 
The Paladins were led by Anna Morgan, who made the turn at one under par before carding two eagles, including an ace, and two birdies on the back nine. Her opening round 65 gives her a four-stroke lead over North Florida's Sara McKevitt, who had five birdies as part of her three-under par opening round score of 69.
 
Stetson junior Wendy Hsiao had a quiet opening day. She was unable to find any birdies during the round, but had 16 pars as part of a two-over round of 74. She is tied for 17^th.
 
Senior Bianca Sol Cruz got off to a good start, with a birdie on the second hole, one of two on the front nine. She finished the day with a three-over par score of 75 and is tied for 25^th.
 
Fellow senior Hanna Kiefer did not get off to a good start, posting a bogey on her second hole and a double-bogey on her third. She repeated the bogey-double scoring on the sixth and seventh holes to fall to six over, but battled her way back from there. She closed the front nine with a birdie and added two more on the back before a bogey on the 17^th hole left her with a four-over par 76. She is tied for 32^nd.
 
Like Hsiao, junior Katelyn David was unable to find any birdies on the course, finishing with a five-over par opening round 75. She is tied for 38^th.
 
The Hatters will begin play on day two of the tournament at 9:45 a.m. on Saturday. Stetson is paired with James Madison and Georgia Southern for the second round.
 
Live scoring is available throughout the event on Golfstat.com.
 
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program has a vision of developing a culture of champions athletically, academically and within the community. This vision is accomplished through a mission of recruiting and developing student-athletes, coaches and staff, creating a culture of champions, within and outside of competition. The department operates with five core values: Championship Culture, Integrity, Excellence, Pride/Tradition and Leadership. To learn more about the Vision, Mission and Core Values for Stetson Athletics, visit GoHatters.com and click on Mission Statement under the Inside Athletics tab.