KISSIMMEE, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - The field came out firing Sunday, at the opening round of the 2016 ANNIKA Intercollegiate. UCF ended the day tied for tenth place, shooting a team score of even par.
Senior Ashley Holder led the way for the Knights, turning in an impressive round of 69 (-3). She is tied for eighth heading into Monday's second round, four-shots back of the individual lead.
Holder's day started strong, as she carded two birdies and seven pars in a flawless first-nine holes. At the turn, she drained back-to-back birdie putts and carded five more pars before making her lone mistake.
After finding a greenside bunker on the par-five eighth, Holder was unable to convert the up-and-down to save par. Unphased by the miscue, she bounced right back with a par to close out the round.
Meanwhile, senior Johanna Larsson, junior Kaeli Jones and freshman Maria Balcazar all turned in matching rounds of 73 (+1) while senior Ayaka Nakayama shot 77 (+5). After a few bumps on her first nine, Balcazar caught fire late, playing her final nine holes of the day bogey-free at -1.
On the team leaderboard, South Carolina leads the way at -14 with Georgia four shots back at -10. Southern California and UCLA are tied for third at -9 while Florida is fifth at -6.
Second round action is slated for 8 a.m. Monday. Click here to follow the action via live scoring.