- It was a cool morning in the mountains of north Georgia and the Lee women's golf team got off to a "little bit of a slow start" on the opening nine holes of the Lee Ann Noble Memorial being hosted by the University of North Georgia at the Achasta Golf Club. But as the weather warmed so did the play of the Lady Flames.
Lee finished the first round with a 305 total and holds a five-stroke lead over the University of West Georgia (310) and seven strokes over the University West Alabama (312).
North Georgia (316) and Young Harris (324) round out the top five clubs in the 10-team field.
"The ladies got off to a little bit of a slow start today and could never really find a spark of momentum until we made the turn," said assistant coach Hunter Vest. "I was proud of the patience and poise our entire team showed late in the round, which helped us play an extremely solid back nine. Bernadette (Little), Sam (Burrus), and Caroline (Moore) all shoot under-par to close their rounds out. This should provide positive momentum heading into tomorrow's final round."
The even-par round of 72 fired by Moore was good enough to lead the medalist hunt after round one of the 36-hole event. Little's 75 placed the senior in fifth place in the standings. Burrus followed closely with a 76 and is tied for sixth place. Callie Kitchens posted an 82 to round out the four scores that counted for the Lady Flames. Cailey Gino totaled an 83 and Kensington Wieland, playing as an individual, came in with an 87.
West Alabama's Linnette Holmslykke (73) and North Georgia's Hannah Solesbee are tied for second while West Georgia's Franziska Bremm had a 74 to earn a one-stroke lead over Little.