In the individual competition, Cayetana Fernandez leads the talented field by a narrow margin, shooting a first-round 4-under 66 with seven birdies and three bogeys. She was 1-under through the first 12 holes, but birdies on holes No. 13, 16, and 17 got Fernandez to 4-under and gave her the solo lead on the leaderboard.

The freshman Fernandez has had an impressive season thus far and is currently ranked No. 15 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Women's Rankings. She is coming off a T20 finish at the Augusta National Women's Amateur and finished in solo second place at the Women's World Amateur Team Championships. 

Kendall Todd of Arkansas, Hannah Darling of South Carolina, and Julia Lopez Ramirez of Mississippi State are all T2 at 3-under and just one shot back of Fernandez. Six golfers are T6 at 2-under, including the No. 1 ranked golfer in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Women's Rankings, Ingrid Lindblad, and seven golfers are T12 at 1-under.

It is a tight leaderboard through 18 holes, with 22 golfers within four shots of the lead.

The field will play 36 more holes of stroke play on Saturday and Sunday to decide the top eight teams that will advance to match play. The quarterfinal match will be played on Monday morning, with the semifinals immediately after. It will be streamed on SECN+ at 3 p.m. The championship match on Tuesday will be broadcast on SEC Network at 9 a.m.