The Eastern Illinois Panthers placed ninth out of ten teams today after the first round of the OVC Women’s Championship, scoring a total of 337.

Junior Chloe Wong led the Panthers with shooting a low 78, tying her for 14^th with several other golfers.  Wong has become more consistent with keeping her round total under the 80 mark.

Sophomore Anne Bahr scored an 84, tying her for 39^th overall.  This has been her highest round score since the SIU Saluki Invite where she shot an 85 and 87.

Coming in at 44^th, junior Madison Burgett shot an 87, followed by sophomore Hannah Magda placing 45^th shooting an 88.

Junior Alexandra Pickens golfed only six holes today before she had to withdraw due to health conditions.

“I’ve been sick for the past week,” Pickens said.  “I thought it was getting better, but I couldn’t keep my energy levels up.”

Pickens said she started off the round playing fairly well, however by the last couple of holes, she was struggling to stand over the ball.  She will be able to participate the next two days.

Her scores will not count toward her individual placement in the tournament, but her next two round scores still count in other ways.            “I will be able to use my scores for the team placement,” Pickens said.

With a low score of 78, Wong said what worked for her was keeping the ball on the fairway most of the round. However, Wong knows what she needs to do to obtain lower scores.

“I need to minimize my mistakes too so I can go lower the next few days,” Wong said. Her goal is to capitalize on her fairway shots so she can score more birdies.

The Panthers increased their score by 19 points from their lowest round score last weekend at the Indiana State Spring Invite of 318.

Wong says the team needs to forget about today and stay positive for the next two rounds. She adds that the greens were probably the difficult part of the course.

“Everyone on the team hits the ball really well and has the ability to shoot a low score,” Wong said.  “It’s just a matter of grinding it out and making putts.”

Pickens shows optimism about the next couple rounds of golf.

“We just have to try to not make the same mistakes as the previous day,” Pickens said. “That’s what is best about our team. We know how to come back.”

This is only the second time all season the Panthers have participated in a 54-hole tournament. Earlier this fall, the Panthers went to the Loyola-Chicago Fall Tourney and shot a combined 1018 over the three rounds, finishing last out of ten teams.

Senior Anna Gleixner of Eastern Kentucky University led the round with a low score of 68, shooting a four under par, followed by her teammate Freshman Amanda Lindahl who tied for 2^nd with a 71.

At the end of round one, Eastern Kentucky leads with a team total of 293.  The OVC Championship will continue through Wednesday.

Adam Shay can be reached at 581-2812 or at acshay@eiu.edu.