SUNSET BEACH, N.C. -- Playing at the Pfeiffer Spring Invite, the Christopher Newport women's golf program opened the Spring season with an impressive overall performance as the Captains lead all Division III programs and rank second on the leaderboard after the first round. The Captains (+31) fired a 319 and were led by a pair of top-five individual performances from T2 Katie Watson (+3) and T5 Julia Pelletier (+4) on the day. 

The 11-team field played at the Lion's Paw Course at the Ocean Ridge Plantation on the first day. Sixty-five players are in the field played the Par 72 layout that spans 5,639 yards. 

All four of Christopher Newport's counting scorers finished in the top-20 on the individual leaderboard as Taylor Davis (+10) is in a tie for 12th and Maddie Cameron (+14) is tied for 19th. Additionally, rookie Sara McCaskill played as an individual and gave the Captains a fifth player in the top-20 as she tied for 16th with a 13-over par 85. 

As a team, the Captains are in second place behind East Florida State (+16) and lead the next team in the standings, Virginia Wesleyan (+34) by three strokes.

Senior Katie Watson matched her season-best round with a three-over 75 and put together a very clean card on Monday. The veteran dropped in a pair of birdies on par fives with a four on the 455-yard 8th and the 457-yard 18th. She was one of only three players in the field to post an Even par performance or better on the short holes, averaging a 3.0 on the four par three's. 

Just one stroke behind her classmate, senior Julia Pelletier led the tournament field with 13 pars on day one. She continues her standout senior season with her sixth sub-80 round of the year. Pelletier went on a big par run with nine straight and finished the round with a par in 12 of her final 13 holes. Additionally, she added a birdie on the 326-yard par four 4th hole. 

Davis signed for an 82 and added 11 pars in her opening round. Cameron added seven pars to round out the scoring performances with a 14-over 86. Gabi McGehee sank a birdie on the 433-yard par five 2nd hole to get out to a hot start and finished the front nine at four-over par. 

Three players saw action as individuals with McCaskill's 85 leading the way. Newcomer Cassie Sengul (+17) and senior Maggie Umphlet (+24) rounded out the CNU performance in the opening round. McCaskill shot a 41 on the front with a birdie on the seventh hole and the rookie added another bird on the 366-yard par four 15th, which played as the third toughest hole of the tournament. 

The teams will return to action for the second round on Tuesday at the Panther's Run Course. Live scoring is available online here.