WOOD RIVER - Edwardsville's Nicole Johnson finished in a three-way tie for first place with a one-over-par 72, Grace Daech shot a 75 to come in sixth place, and Riley Burns shot a 77 to tie for eighth as the Tigers are in second place after the first round of the Southwestern Conference Girls Golf Tournament on Tuesday morning and afternoon at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
O'Fallon hold the team lead after the first round with a sizzling 294 team score, with the Tigers in second with a score of 311, Belleville East is third with a 339, Alton stands in fourth with a 350, Belleville West was fifth with a 361, and Collinsville is in sixth with a 371.
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Edwardsville played very well on an overcast and rainy day, with many of their players shooting excellent rounds.
"I think we played great today," said Tigers head coach Libby Koonce. "Three scores under 80, Riley Burns pulling it together with a 77, Grace coming back and firing another 75, Nicole consistent with a 72, so I think it's awesome. Sydney Weedman chose a great day to play a good round of golf, shot an 87, so that's great."
Conditions were less than ideal, with an overcast and rainy day that the golfers played through until right after 11 a.m., when they were called in for an approximately 45-50 minute rain delay. The delay gave each of the teams an opportunity for lunch and to socialize, and the delay definitely helped the Tigers.
"Speaking personally for my team, I don't think it affected us very much," Koonce said. "We had to go through and maybe think about how shots were going to fly, and especially how they were going to land. I mean, we lost any kind of roll we had. If there was any roll this morning, there was zero roll when we came back. Other than that, I think the rain delay, they got to refuel, they got to hang out with their friends for 45 minutes in the middle of their round. I don't think it negatively affected them at all."
The conditions of the course changed somewhat after the rain delay, but Edwardsville's golfers were able to adjust to the conditions, and made the most of their chances.
"I mean, other than they just lost the roll, not quite the yardage they were getting before the rain," Koonce said, "but, yeah, wet conditions are going to change the conditions of the golf with that much rain. But overall, I think my girls did a really great job of compensating for that."
Johnson's round of 72 tied with O'Fallon's Reagan Martin and Alton's Natalie Messinger for the lead, while Daech holds sole possession of sixth place, and Burns is tied with Ellie Eversman of Belleville East for eighth with each golfer shooting a 78. The Panthers' Dylan Kirchoff and Chloe Davidson are tied for fourth with a 73, teammate Maddie Vanderheyden is seventh with a 76, and the Lancers' Sydney Nelson is 10th with a 79.
Weedman's 87 has her in the top 20, at 15th place, while Bailey Vorachek shot a 92, and both Sophia Rankin and Morgan Landry each fired a 97.
The second and final round of the tournament will be played on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at Far Oaks Golf Course in Caseyville, and Koonce is looking ahead to the final round.
"We play good golf at Far Oaks, so I'm looking forward to getting back there in three weeks, and doing this all again. It's a good day."
In the interim, the Tigers play against the Panthers in a dual meet at Tamarack Country Club in O'Fallon on Sept. 15, but before that, they'll play in the Alton Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 12. Koonce said she is looking forward to more great rounds from her golfers.
