ANDERSON, S.C. - The Anderson University women's golf team rode a solid first round 80 (+8) from freshman Katie Eskew to a third-place finish at the end of day one of the Anderson Invitational Women's Golf Tournament at the par 72, 5,812 yard Anderson Country Club in Anderson on Monday.

Eskew carded a four-over 40 on both the front and back nines, posting a consistent nine pars along the way. The Greenville, S.C., native currently sits alone in fifth place on the leaderboard in her quest for an individual title.

"I was pleased with our finish but we didn't play our best golf today," said Anderson head coach Danny Neal. "I believe we have an opportunity to move up a spot or two. I'm very pleased with Katie (Eskew). She played very well for her first tournament."

The Trojans also benefited from a solid round by junior Laura Buyers, who turned in the team's second-best round of the day, carding a 10-over 82 after recording a team-best 10 pars on the course. She currently sits in a four-way tie for ninth place at the event.

Junior Kalyn Johnson (T20th) finished seven strokes behind her teammate with a 15-over 87 on the day, while senior Hayley Parks wrapped the day tied for 25th on the individual leaderboard, while sophomore Lindsay Parks rounded out the scoring for AU on Monday, shaving eight strokes off her front nine score en route to a 92 in her first round.

With a team score of 338 (+50), the Trojans need to make up just 10 strokes on second-place Pfeiffer (+40) and 16 strokes on Tusculum (+34) to catch the leaders. Anderson sits two shots ahead of Lincoln Memorial (+52) in fourth place. Tusculum's Jillian Corum leads all golfers after a four-over 76 on Monday.

The teams are back on the course for final-round action on Tuesday with a shotgun start at 9 a.m.

Fin. Top 20 Teams Scores
1 Tusculum College 322
2 Pfeiffer University 328
3 Anderson 338
4 Lincoln Memorial 340
5 Lenoir-Rhyne 341
6 Erskine College 354
7 Limestone College 359
8 St. Andrews 363
9 North Greenville 368

Fin. Top 20 Players School Scores
1 Jillian Corum Tusculum 40- 36 76
2 Katie Thackerson Lenoir-Rhyne 40- 38 78
Steph Peareth Pfeiffer 39- 39 78
4 Emily Palenkas Tusculum 41- 38 79
5 Katie Eskew Anderson 40- 40 80
6 Jackie McMenimon Pfeiffer 45- 36 81
Courtney Balcome Erskine 40- 41 81
Sara Howard Tusculum 35- 46 81
9 Laura Buyers Anderson 42- 40 82
Ansley Smith Limestone 40- 42 82
Whitney Ball LMU 47- 35 82
Angela Gimenez Pfeiffer 41- 41 82
13 Tiffany Hutchinson Erskine 37- 46 83
Kristen Wolff LMU 41- 42 83
15 Brenna Martens Lenoir-Rhyne 44- 41 85
*Katie Doane Tusculum 42- 43 85
17 Amy Driggers St. Andrews 41- 45 86
Desta Coaker LMU 46- 40 86
Haley Rye Tusculum 43- 43 86
20 Chelsea Demers Pfeiffer 45- 42 87
Kalyn Johnson Anderson 42- 45 87
Alyson Pugh Tusculum 42- 45 87
Megan Katsh Lenoir-Rhyne 47- 40 87
Kelly Hill Pfeiffer 45- 42 87