SAINT LEO- Florida Southern Women’s Golf opened up play here Monday in the Saint Leo Invitational by shooting a team score of 312 in the first round to stand in fifth place out of 14 teams at the Lake Jovita Golf and Country Club.
While the “A” team shot an opening round score of 312, the Mocs “B” team stood in ninth place after carding a team score of 327 in Monday's first round.
The Moccasins were paced by junior Barbora Vejlupkova (Prague, Czech Republic) as she carded a four-over par 76 on the par-72, 6,140 yard course. Vejlupkova shot a 38 on both the front and back nine. She sits five shots off the lead, which is held by Nova Southeastern’s Abbey Gittings and Nicole Ferre from Barry. Gittings and Ferre each shot one-down 71's in the first round to be two shots in front of the rest of the field.
Lynn University stands in first place overall in the team competition after firing a team score of 296. The Knights had three of their five golfers shoot a one-over par 73 in the opening round, while Nova Southeastern is in second place after shooting a 300 and tournament host Saint Leo is close behind in third place after firing a 302 for 18 holes.
The FSC “B” team was led by junior Jackie Rajek (Suwanee, Fla.), who carded a 79 to stand in a tie for 22nd place with eight other players.
In addition to Vejlupkova, senior Megan Kiley (Leo, Ind.) is tied for 14th with a first round score of 77 after carding a front-nine 42 and bouncing back to shoot a one-under par 35 on the back nine. Senior Amy Hodgkinson (Mead, Colo.) fired a 79 to stand tied with Rajek in 22nd place. Hodgkinson shot a 37 on the front nine and fired a 42 on the back nine, while sophomore Emily Rymer (Orlando, Fla.) carded an 80 to stand tied for 31st place. The final Moc golfer for the 'A' Team was junior Hannah Duffie (Dalton, Ga.), who shot an opening round 84 to stand tied for 45th place.
Along with Rajek on the “B” team, freshman Emily Tofaute (Louisville, Kent.) shot an 80 to stand tied in 31st, while junior Callie Hodgkinson (Mead, Colo.), freshman Katharine Creighton (Buffalo, N.Y.) and freshman Colleen Panosian (Smyrna, Ga.) all carded 84’s to fall into a tie at 45th place.
The Mocs will finish the two-day tournament starting Tuesday morning at 8:15 a.m. with another 18 holes.