Germino gets toasty on the front nine with four birdies in five holes; tied for second overall

RIO GRANDE, P.R. – After faltering early and having nowhere to go but up, the Kent State women's golf team moved into a logjam at seventh place in the first round of action at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic at the River Course of the Rio Mar Country Club.

Of note, the elite tournament field is comprised of 15 squads ranked in the top 100 by Golf Week's Sagarin rankings and 20 of the nation's top 100 golfers.

Senior Mercedes Germino (Necochea, Argentina) recovered from a bogey on the par-4 No. 1 to post four birdies through the next five holes. Germino, who had five birdies on the day, is in a tie for second place with a one-under 71. The senior was steady on the back nine, shooting one-under 35 thanks to a birdie on the par-5 No. 15.

Senior Mandi Morrow (Kent, Ohio) had to regroup from a double-bogey on her opening hole, carding birdies on No. 13 and No. 18 to get back to even par. Morrow finished the first day with a three-over 75, good for second on the squad and tied of 19th overall.

Senior Shamira Marshall (Macedonia, Ohio) scored three birdies on the day, but had just seven pars. She finished with a seven-over 79 and is in 54th place with eight other golfers.

Junior Jackie Yanch (Barrie, Ontario) scored birdies on two of the course's four par-5 holes, but a trio of double bogeys kept the first-year Golden Flash from getting in the groove. Yanch finished with an eight-over 80, which is tied for 63^rd place.

Freshman Jennifer Ha (Calgary, Alberta) rounded out Kent State's team effort with a 10-over 82.

Sophomore Erin Hawe (Walton, New Zealand), playing as an individual, had five bogeys on the day to finish with a five-over 77. She is third among individual golfers and tied for 37th overall.

LSU and Georgia are tied for first overall with team scores of 294 (+6). Georgia's Emilie Burger went bogey free with six birdies for a six-under 66.

Kent State takes the course for Monday's second round at 8 a.m. local time/7 a.m. ET with a shotgun start. The Golden Flashes will tee off from holes 9-12 and are paired with Northwestern, Nebraska and SMU. Hawe will start from No. 17.

* Playing as an individual