Women's Golf | 5/14/2019 8:02:00 PM

HOUSTON  Senior Peyton Durham finished Day 1 of the NCAA 2019 Division III Women's Golf Championship on Tuesday with a 3-over-par 75 to pace second-place Methodist University at the four-day national tournament hosted at the Bay Oaks Country Club.

Durham is tied for sixth place on the individual leaderboard, while the Monarchs (307, +19) sit tied for second on the team leaderboard with DePauw (Ind.) University, just one stroke back from University of Redlands (Calif.).

The championship tournament runs through Friday, May 17, with all 25 teams completing Rounds 1-3, but only the top 15 teams -- and the top six individuals not on one of those teams -- advance to Friday's final round.

THE ESSENTIALS
Event: NCAA 2019 Division III Women's Golf Championship
Participants: 25 teams, and 6 individuals; 131 golfers
Location: Bay Oaks Country Club (Par 72, 5,889 yards); Houston, Texas
Top 3 teams: 1 – Redlands (306, +18), T-2 – Methodist (307, +19), T-2 – DePauw (307, +19)
Top 3 individuals: 1 – Bailey Plourde, Centre (Ky.) (36-35—71, 1-under), 2 – Taylor Beckwith, Whittier (Calif.) (33-40—73, +1), 3 – Three players tied at 74 (+2)

THE DETAILS

• Durham's day didn't exactly get the jump start she wanted, with a bogey on her opening hole. But the veteran dropped in par putts on hole Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5 to steady herself.
• A pair of birdies were sandwiched around a pair of bogeys, allowing Durham to make the turn at just 1-over, but again she steadied herself, making five consecutive par putts to open her back nine.
• Bogey's on Nos. 15 and 17 were the only blemishes across the back for Durham (37-37—75, +3), a senior playing in her second NCAA championship.
• Paige Church (T-16th, 36-40—76, +4) raced through the front nine, opening with five pars before giving a stroke on No. 6, only to win it back with a birdie on the 9th to roll past the turn at even par. Though she found an extra stroke on four holes across the back, she did string together consecutive pars on Nos. 11-14.
• Alexandra Williams (T-16th, 36-40—76, +4) had a similar round, recording one bogey and one birdie on the front, before finding the back nine more challenging.
• Morgan Bowen (T-49th, 39-41—80, +8) and Jillian Drinkard (39-41—80, +8) carded nearly identical rounds, making their turns at 3-over and finishing the back nine at 5-over.
• Bowen bounced back from a pair of opening bogeys with birdies on Nos. 5 and 6, but found trouble on Nos. 8 and 9. She earned one back on No. 11 before surrendering up a few more strokes in her final holes.
• Drinkard (T-49th, 39-41—80, +8) would have liked a do-over after her start -- double bogey, bogey, bogey -- but like Durham, she steadied and finished the front with four pars, a birdie, and another par on No. 9. Her up and down card continued on the back with double, birdie, double before she played out the rest of the back at just 2-over.

OF NOTE

• Ranked 10th nationally coming into the tournament, the Monarchs finished the opening round ahead of all the teams ranked ahead of them except No. 5 DePauw (Ind.):
  • top-ranked Carleton (Minn.) College (310, +22) is tied for fifth
  • second-ranked George Fox (Ore.) University (310, +22) is tied for fifth
  • No. 3 New York University (311, +23) is tied for seventh
  • No. 4 Grinnell (Iowa) College (323, +35) is 12th
  • No. 6 Williams (Mass.) College (309, +21) is fourth
  • No. 7 Rhodes (Tenn.) College (319, +31) is tied for 10th
  • reigning champion and No. 8 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) (315, +27) is ninth
  • ninth-ranked Washington (Mo.) University (319, +31) is tied for 10th.
• Bailey Plourde and Taylor Beckwith look to have been a pair of excellent choices for two of the six individual at-large bids, finishing Day 1 in first and second place, respectively.

UP NEXT
The Monarchs switch to an afternoon tee time Wednesday, and will begin their rounds on No. 10.