Feb. 20, 2006

Corpus Christi, TX - McNeese State's Lisa Westman shot rounds of 76 and 74 to rank among the top 10 after the first day of the women's Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islander Golf Classic.

The field played 36 holes on Monday and will conclude the tournament with 18 more holes on Tuesday.

The Cowgirls shot 318-315--633 as a team to rank in the middle of the pack of the tournament that was won by North Texas last season.

Monday's round was played in cold and wind and although some top scores were posted, the conditions brought out higher scores.

Westman, who had three birdies during the 36 holes of play, completed her afternoon round by making 10 straight pars.

Hollie Renfro was the Cowgirls second leading scorer with 89-79--159 while Janel Bailey shot 80-80--160, Maggie Welch had an 82-83--165, Trista Touchette an 87-82--169 and Hannah Bagwell an 83-80--163.

"We played fair," Cowgirl coach Mike Fluty said. "We can certainly play better. This first day showed that we need to do a better job of course management as well as having a need to work more on our short game."

He said that he felt if the team could go out on Tuesday and put up a 310 score the Cowgirls could improve their team position by several spots.