KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C.--Taylor Babcock shot a first round 72 at the Tusculum Women's Intercollegiate in Kiawah Island, S.C., as Barry University women's golf team positioned itself in third place Saturday to open the spring season.
Babcock was three strokes off the lead, held by Florida Southern's Megan Kiley.
Barry, which shot 303 as a team, is six strokes behind co-leaders Lynn University and Florida Southern at Cougar Point Golf Club. The event is hosted by Tusculum University.
With a 50-50 chance of rain expected for Sunday's final round, the Bucs are in a place they're not used to being in. But it's a spot they believe they have a realistic shot of remaining consistently throughout the year.
"I think part of that is we have to get used to being there," Buccaneers coach Gina Umeck said. "We have to be comfortable in the lead, instead of chasing the lead. But yeah, it's a good start, a very solid start."
Freshman Francesca Perini shot 76, which helped catapult the Bucs near the top of the lead standings. Senior Lizzi Over shot a two-over 74, giving the Bucs three players within four strokes of par in the first round. Over was in seventh place after Saturday's opening round.
"Francesca was struggling coming into the tournament," Umeck said. "That was probably the most clutch round. She really came through for us."
Nancy Vergara shot 81, and Daniela Murray carded an 83.
With weather trends patterning for a possible chance to play at a tournament that traditionally experiences poor weather at this time of year, the Buccaneers have a different outlook heading into the final round.
"I prepared for it being bad weather," Umeck said. "You could be kind of pleasantly surprised.
"We've got a real good chance."
Tusculum College Women's Invitational
Team Totals
Round 1 Results
Pos
1 Florida Southern 69-75-76-77--297 +9
Lynn University 73-74-75-75--297 +9
3 Barry University 72-74-76-81--303 +15
4 Tusculum College 70-78-80-83--311 +23
5 Armstrong Atlantic 73-74-80-85--312 +24
6 SCAD 75-77-79-83--314 +26
Wingate University 77-77-79-81--314 +26
8 Lincoln Memorial 70-77-79-89--315 +27
9 Lander University 79-79-79-80--317 +29
10 UNC-Pembroke 74-79-83-83--319 +31
11 Catawba College 76-80-83-84--323 +35
12 Univ. of West Georgia 81-83-84-86--334 +46
13 Mount Olive 83-83-84-85--335 +47
14 SW OklahomaState 78-79-88-91--336 +48
15 Coker College 79-83-86-91--339 +51
16 Belmont Abbey 78-83-91-95--347 +59
17 Faulkner University 83-84-88-105--360 +72
18 Barton College 80-89-151-155--475 +187
Tusculum College Women's Invitational
Individual Stroke Play
Pos
1 Megan Kiley, Florida Southern 69 -3
2 Brittany McCown, Lincoln Memorial 70 -2
Jillian Corum, Tusculum 70 -2
4 Taylor Babcock, Barry 72 Even
5 Jenna Birch, Armstrong 73 +1
Jessica Bradley, Lynn 73 +1
7 Lizzi Over, Barry 74 +2
Kristen Sammarco, Armstrong 74 +2
Thalia Baigorria, Lynn 74 +2
Shauna Walor, UNC Pembroke 74 +2
11 Nikki Stewart, SCAD 75 +3
Irene Calvo, Lynn 75 +3
Louise Manalo, Lynn 75 +3
Jackie Rajek, Florida Southern 75 +3
15 Francesca Perini, Barry 76 +4
Madison Kennedy, Catawba 76 +4
Amy Hodgkinson, Florida Southern 76 +4
18 Melanie Audette, Florida Southern 77 +5
Morgan Pegram, Wingate 77 +5
Lucia Careaga, Wingate 77 +5
Lindsay Davis, Lincoln Memorial 77 +5
Barbora Vejlupkova, Florida Southern 77 +5
Mary-Michael Burns, SCAD 77 +5
24 Jenn Weiland, Belmont Abbey 78 +6
Jessica Heard, SW Oklahoma St. 78 +6
Katie Doane, Tusculum 78 +6
27 Samantha Smolen, Lynn 79 +7
Mallory Thompkins, Coker 79 +7
Dea Mahendra, Lander 79 +7
Valentina Bueno, Lander 79 +7
Karli Soracco, Wingate 79 +7
Dana Watkins, UNC Pemborke 79 +7
Haley Hise, SW Oklahoma St. 79 +7
Alexa Osbourn, SCAD 79 +7
Ashley Shinn, Lander 79 +7
Whitney Ball, Lincoln Memorial 79 +7
37 Alec Cunningham, Tusculum 80 +8
Maria Tirado, Barton 80 +8
Leslie Long, Catawba 80 +8
Sara Howard, Tusculum 80 +8
Marianna Martins, Lander 80 +8
Kelly Pearce, Armstrong 80 +8
43 Nicolette Boissonneau, West Georgia 81 +9
Samantha Pugh-Gilder, Wingate 81 +9
43 Nancy Vergara, Barry 81 +9
Kathryn Rand, Wingate 81 +9
47 Kelly Wilson, Catawba 83 +11
Rebecca Mirovich, Belmont Abbey 83 +11
Emee Herbert, Tusculum 83 +11
Kelly Sumner, UNC Pembroke 83 +11
Jenn Crow, UNC Pembroke 83 +11
Andrea Perez, SCAD 83 +11
Rachel Uremovich, Lander 83 +11
Becky Tetrick, SCAD 83 +11
Meghan Moore, UNC Pembroke 83 +11
Tegan Skirpstas, Mount Olive 83 +11
Emy Ohling, Mount Olive 83 +11
Taylor Casabere, West Georgia 83 +11
Krista Thorpe, Coker 83 +11
Daniela Murray, Barry 83 +11
Emma Sears, Faulkner 83 +11
62 Samantha Lackey, Catawba 84 +12
Emelie Anderson, Mount Olive 84 +12
Jordan Pence, West Georgia 84 +12
Alyssa Hockenberry, Faulkner 84 +12
66 Valentina Urquiola, Mount Olive 85 +13
Jessica Tomberlin, Armstrong 85 +13
68 Jerrah Baker, West Georgia 86 +14
Sara Allen, Coker 86 +14
70 Kim Knox, Armstrong 87 +15
Aly Pugh, Tusculum 87 +15
72 Nicole Picallo, Faulkner 88 +16
Stacy Geswender, SW Oklahoma St. 88 +16
74 Brittney Zine, Barton 89 +17
Mercedes Smith, Lincoln Memorial 89 +17
76 Sara Jackson, Belmont Abbey 91 +19
Jessi McKenzie, Coker 91 +19
Desta Coaker, Lincoln Memorial 91 +19
Tailar Murphy, Catawba 91 +19
Amber Henderson, SW Oklahoma St. 91 +19
81 Chelsea McCuistion, SW Oklahoma St. 92 +20
82 Courtney Beal. Belmont Abbey 95 +23
Sarah Baniszewski, Mount Olive 95 +23
84 Bobbi McKenzie, Coker 100 +28
85 Creseida Greene, Faulkner 105 +33
86 Abbey Anderson, Faulkner 119 +47
87 Gabrielle Guider, West Georgia 128 +56
88 Lindsey Snyder, Barton 151 +79
89 Sammy Jo Hinnant, Barton 155 +83
