The Michigan State women’s golf team has plenty of work still to do after an up-and-down first round at the NCAA national championships.
The Spartans didn’t have any players finish under par but, with nine teams still on the course Friday night, still were tied for 16th place out of 30 teams after shooting a 5-over 293 in the first round of the finals at the Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The tournament consists of 54 holes of stroke play qualifying and then the top 15 teams and nine individuals (not on advancing teams) will play a final 18 holes to determine the individual champion and the top eight teams will advance to match play. On May 23 there will be 36 holes of match play and then the match play championship will take place May 24.
Katie Lu led MSU with an even-par 72 and was tied for 38th place overall. Teammates Brooke Biermann and Leila Raines were both at 1-over and tied for 53rd. The other Spartans are Shannon Kennedy and Valentina Rossi, both at 3-over and tied for 93rd.
The Spartans are competing in the NCAA Championships for the 15th time in program history and the second time in the past three years. MSU earned a spot in the finals by winning the Palm Beach Regional May 8-10 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU women’s golf: In middle of pack after 1st day of NCAA finals