SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. — The Catholic University women's golf team shot a team-335 on the first day of play at the PCT Spring Break Challenge to open up a 16-stroke lead halfway through the event.
After 18 holes, three Cardinals sit within the top five as Lauren Wright sits atop the leaderboard. The freshman is out to a two-stroke lead over three players, her Catholic teammates Brooke Smith and Lauren Lombardo as well as Drew's Kayla Diaz.
Wright closed her round brilliantly, coming in just one over on the back nine and played the last seven holes at even par. She produced a birdie on the 269-yard par-4 17th en route to her tournament-leading 80 (+8).
Smith and Lombardo both also carded one birdie in their rounds of 82 (+10). Lombardo made a four on the 420-yard par-5 16th hole while Smith also birdied that same hole as she played the whole back-nine at just one over par.
Avery Mrak (91, T-12) and Tyler Zierski (103, T-19) rounded out the scoring for the Cardinals.
Catholic leads Landmark Conference foes Drew by 16 strokes while Thiel College, Pfeiffer and Goucher round out the field.
The Cardinals will look to recreate today's strong performance tomorrow as they go in search of the trophy. Play at Longleaf Golf Club will begin at 9 a.m.
