BOLIVAR, Mo. – The McKendree University women's golf team continued its fall season here Monday as the Bearcats shot an opening round 317 as a team to sit in a tie for second place out of 17 teams at the Lady Panther Fall Invitational hosted by Drury University and held at Silo Ridge Country Club.
 
In Monday's opening round, McKendree sits tied with Missouri Southern State for second place on the leaderboard, who also shot a 317 as a team. Both teams are chasing first round leader, Christian Brothers University, who carded an opening round 311 to lead by six shots. Drury is fourth with a 318, while Southern Indiana and Columbia College are tied for fifth with an opening round 320.
 
Leading the way for the Bearcats was freshman Imogen Rafferty (Derbyshire, England/Trent College), who sit atop the individual leaderboard after carding an even-par 72 in the first round to lead by four shots over four players, who each shot 4-over par 76's to sit tied for second place.  
 
Rafferty, who was the individual medalist in her first collegiate tournament last week at the Screaming Eagles Invitational hosted by the University of Southern Indiana, recorded three birdies, 12 pars and three bogeys on the 5,989-yard, par-72 course.
 
William Woods' Maria Zrodowska, Truman State's Kara Hunt, William Jewell's Frida Hammarlund and Christian Brothers' Laura Ortiz are each tied for second place. Another four golfers are one shot back of second place as they shot 77's to sit tied for sixth place. Overall, 14 golfers are within six shots of Rafferty heading into Tuesday's final round.
 
Sophomore Martina Hicks (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho/Coeur d'Alene) was McKendree's No. 2 golfer on Monday as she carded an opening round score of 80 to sit in a tie for 22nd place. Hicks recorded 11 pars, six bogeys and double bogey on her first round scorecard.
 
Senior Madeline Larouere (O'Fallon, Mo./Liberty) was the No. 3 counter in the first round as she shot an 82 to sit with five other golfers in a tie for 37th place. Larouere recorded one birdie, eight pars, eight bogeys and a triple-bogey 7 on the par-4 No. 15 hole.
 
The final counter towards the team score for the Bearcats in the first round was senior Brooke Boatman (Troy, Ill./O'Fallon Township), who carded an opening round 83 to sit tied for 42nd place. Boatman recorded two birdies, six pars, seven bogeys and three double bogeys.
 
McKendree's fifth and final golfer was senior Paige Hamel (Glen Carbon, Ill./Edwardsville), who shot an 84 in the first round to sit in a seven-way tie for 50th place. Hamel finished the first round with nine pars, six bogeys and three double bogeys on her scorecard.
 
McKendree and the other 16 teams in the field will complete the tournament with another 18 holes on Tuesday morning beginning at 9 a.m. weather permitting as overnight rainfall is expected in the Bolivar area.