JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga.  In a 21-team field filled with eight squads ranked in the top 25 of the most recent Golfstat.com women's relative rankings, 13th-ranked Methodist rolled its way into third place Friday on the first day of the three-day Jekyll Island Women's Collegiate Invitational.

In addition to the solid day for the team, a pair of Monarchs -- Morgan Bowen and Peyton Durham -- played their way into the top 10, with Bowen (38-35—73, plus-1) sharing the first-round lead and Durham (39-36—75, +3) hounding the leaders just two strokes behind in a sixth-place tie.

THE ESSENTIALS
Event: 16th Jekyll Island Women's Collegiate Invitational
Location: Jekyll Island Golf Club/Indian Mound Course (5,801 yards, Par 72); Jekyll Island, Ga.
Team leaders: 1 – New York University (300, +12), 2 – Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) University (302, +14), 3 – Methodist (304, +16)
Individual leaders: T-1 – Morgan Bowen, Methodist (38-35—73, +1), T-1 – Yedin Lui, Carnegie Mellon (36-37—73, +1), T-1 – Catherine Yu, Carnegie Mellon (37-36—73, +1)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Methodist's golfers opened their Friday round on the back nine.
• When making the turn to the front nine, the Monarchs were just six over par and vying for the top of the leaderboard.
• Jillian Drinkard (40-37—76, +4) was not her usual consistent self, but still sits within the top 20 on the individual leaderboard, tied for 16th place.
• Paige Church (T-29th; 37-42—79, +7) trimmed five strokes from her back nine count after making the turn.
• Alexandra Williams (40-43—83, +11) would probably like to have two holes back for a re-play, but is still in the top half of the 119-player field in a tie for 59th.

THE NUMBERS GAME

• Methodist golfers produced the most birdies, 15, on the day, and tied for best scores on the par 5s with a cumulative total of 3-under.
• The Monarchs finished the day with a cumulative +19 on the par 4s, second best of the 21 teams in attendance.

UP NEXT
Day 2 of the Invitational commences Saturday morning with 8 a.m. tee times for some.