Baylor holds first round lead at Darius Rucker Intercollegiate

The Baylor Bears made the most of difficult scoring conditions to take the first-round lead of the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate being held at the Lone Cove Golf Club in Hilton Head, SC.

The 24th-ranked Bears managed a 3-over round of 287 on Monday which is good for a one-stroke lead over 12th-ranked Texas, which shot a 288. Alabama (290), LSU (291) and Wake Forest (291) round out the top-five.

Baylor senior Gurleen Kaur paced the Bears in the first round with a 1-under 70 and is part of large pack tied for second place, one shot behind Furman's Anna Morgan. For Kaur, it was her eighth consecutive round of par or better.

Antonia Matte birdied three of her first five holes and briefly held a share of the lead before signing for a 1-over 72. Sophomore Britta Snyder also carded 72 and is tied with her teammate for 12th place heading into Tuesday's second round.

Anna Morgan of Furman

"I love that we have lots of patience out there," said Baylor head coach Jay Goble. "I think that we knew it was going to be a hard day. We know it's a difficult golf course that you have to stay patient on, and they did a great job of managing their games and managing their expectations and really going out there and hitting one shot at a time. It's an old golf cliche, but that's what you have to do on this golf course."

Texas freshman Bohyun Park and graduate student Brigitte Thibault are part of the six-way log jam at 1-under 70. Longhorn senior Sara Kouskova made a pair of birdies over her last three holes en route to a 1-over 72 and is tied for 12th place.

Teeing off on the 10th hole, Morgan, a native of Spartanburg, S.C., picked up birdies on holes No. 13 and No. 16 to make the turn at even par. She then recorded four birdies on her second nine to finish the round at 2-under par.

"Today was a really fun day and an overall solid round," said Morgan, who won both the South Carolina and Carolinas Women's Amateurs in 2020. "I really didn't make many mistakes, and when I did, I was able to make a few solid saves. My putting was probably the most solid part of my game today, so I was able to take advantage and make some birdies."

A total of 35 golfers are within four strokes of the lead heading into Tuesday's second round.

GOLF Channel will have live second and third-round coverage from Long Cove beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Baylor and Furman Athletic Communications contributed to this report.