PUEBLO, Colo. – Aubree Heinsma shot 6-over 78 to crack the top 25 of an 84-golfer field and the Chadron State women's golf team sits tied for 10
th out of 15 programs after day one of the Southern Colorado Open.
The Eagles shot 35-over 323 as a squad. They are tied with Saint Martin's (Wash.) and seven strokes behind ninth-place MSU Denver. Of the four schools behind Chadron State in the standings, three are RMAC competitors – Colorado Mesa (12
th), South Dakota Mines (14
th) and Adams State (15
th).
Heinsma, this time in the scoring lineup for CSC after excelling as an individual last tournament, shot even-par 36 on the back nine as part of her team-best round. A senior from Windsor, Colorado, Heinsma birdied the par-5 fifth hole, the par-4 10
th hole and the par-4 11
th hole.
With a shotgun start causing the field to begin at different parts of the course, Heinsma began her round on that No. 5 hole and had a roller coaster early, as she was 2-over through seven holes despite the three birdies in that time frame. Heinsma closed her round by hitting par on eight of her final 10 holes of the day.
At 6-over 78, Heinsma sits tied for 24
th place after one round.
Chadron State's other scoring golfers on Sunday were sophomore
Allison Sanger and freshman
Macy Kleve, part of a group tied for 44
th at 9-over 81, and freshman
Lauren Knapp two strokes behind at 11-over 83. Sophomore
Klara Kleinig is tied for 66
th after carding a 15-over 87, with senior
Payton Wise matching that score while competing as an individual.
All five Chadron State lineup golfers shot better on the back nine than the front nine during Sunday's opening round. Despite sitting in T-10 out of 15 in the standings, Chadron State combined for just 30 bogeys on Sunday, tied for the fifth-lowest total in the field.
Hosts CSU Pueblo and UT Dallas are tied after a round for first in the team race at 7-over 295. Texas A&M-International and Colorado Christian are tied for third 11 strokes back.
Chadron State and Saint Martin's have a two-stroke cushion over Colorado Mesa in 12
th and a 10-stroke lead on 13
th-place Garden City CC. If the Eagles have a strong second round Monday, they could target moving up to join a pack that includes seventh-place New Mexico JC (26-over, nine strokes ahead), Western New Mexico (26-over) and MSU Denver (28-over).
