LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Led by the first career round under par by rookie
Gabi McGehee and an astonishing team card that included 58 pars and 10 birdies, the Christopher Newport women's golf team set the program scoring record in relation to par and sits in first place at the Transylvania Women's Golf Kickoff Classic. The Captains carded a six-over par 298 on the Par 73 track in Kentucky to trim three strokes off the previous program record set last year.
The Captains hold the first round lead after one of the finest rounds in program history, edging out Denison University by one stroke on the first day. Sewanee is in third place, six strokes back, while Piedmont is also in the hunt seven back of the Captains.
On the individual leaderboard, McGehee (-1) is tied for third and two off the pace set by Erin Donovan from Piedmont. Jane Stilz from Sewanee is at two-under and alone in second place. CNU also saw
Julia Pelletier (+1) and
Katie Watson (+2) wind up in the top-ten after the first 18 holes.
The record-breaking performance came courtesy of just the second sub-300 team score in program history. Last season, CNU broke the 300-stroke threshold for the first time with a record 297 in the third round of the Jekyll Island Women's Collegiate. However, that round was played on a Par 72 layout, meaning the Captains finished nine-over par in Georgia; Sunday's first round in Kentucky saw CNU card a six-over 298 to record the best round in relation to par in program history.
Two players were a part of both performances as Pelletier and Watson participated in last year's Jekyll Island event as well as this weekend's tournament hosted by Transylvania University. Rounding out the scoring on Sunday was
Taylor Davis (+4), tied for 16th, while rookie
Maddie Cameron (+8) sits in 27th out of 67 players.
In what is believed to be a program record, only two double bogeys were dropped by the five Captains on Sunday as the team kept the card clean across the board. McGehee, in particular, had a standout performance with only one bogey in her first 18 holes on Sunday. The rookie was one-under on the front after a birdie four on the 436-yard par five 4th hole was paired with eight pars. She stayed on that red-hot run and birdied the 317-yard par four 11th while stacking seven more pars before finally giving a stroke back on 17.
She finished with a par on 18 and became just the fifth player in program history to finish a round under par. McGehee joins Erica Whitehouse, Shreya Ganta, Lauren Sims, and
Ayla Browning with the seventh round under par in program history. She also lowered the single round low scoring record on a Par 73 by three strokes, besting D'yan Robinson's two-over 75 from the 2023 Lynn Schweizer Invitational. McGehee's 72 is also the second-finest round ever carded by a rookie behind Browning's 70 in the aforementioned third round of the Jekyll Island Collegiate.
In addition to McGehee's heroics, Pelletier signed for her career low in back-to-back weeks after shaving another stroke off her personal best with a 74. Last week, she fired a 75 at the Lynn Schweizer Invitational and, on Sunday, she added 11 pars and a team-high three birdies to lead the way again. She started strong, with birdies on 2 and 4 before adding another birdie on the par five 16th.
Watson added a season-low 75 after finishing with a flourish. Two over through the front nine, Watson was sitting at four-over par through 15 holes, but a par and back-to-back birdies to close saw her sign for a 37 coming back into the clubhouse.
Davis had two more birdies for the Captains with a four on the 436-yard par five 5th and a three on the 322-yard par four 10th hole. Cameron sank a four on 15 to close out an 81 as the drop score for CNU.
Christopher Newport and the rest of the 12-team field will return to the University Club of Kentucky on Monday. Live scoring is available online.
