Missouri tied for 15th place after first round at USGA Women's Team Championship

Missouri captain Stephany Powell already had expressed approval of her team's performance before taking a gander at the scoreboard at the USGA Women's Team Championship event Thursday afternoon at Dalhousie Golf Club.

All three of her golfers, 53-year-old veteran Ellen Port and 25-year-olds Catherine Dolan and Kayla Eckelkamp, had recovered from somewhat shaky starts to post a 150 team score.

Eckelkamp led the way with a 74, while Dolan completed the team score with a 76. Port was right behind with a 77, but her 5-over total did not figure into the team score, which is derived from the lowest two scores each day in the three-day event that concludes Saturday.

Powell was pleased how her team score was stacking up against 48 other states and the District of Columbia.

David Hitt, a volunteer pours range balls into the trays early Thursday morning at the 2015 Women's State Team at Dalhousie Golf Club in Cape Girardeau, Mo. on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015. (Copyright USGA/Steven Gibbons)

"To be that close to Tennessee is incredible because they're always good," Powell said as she perused the scoreboard. "Ahead of Texas, just looking around at the scores now, there are teams that in the past have beat us, and we're hanging right with them. We're ahead of California."

Powell then came across the tournament-leading 138 total of Florida.

"Florida is sickening," Powell said, shaking her head.

Floridians Tara Joy-Connelly and Meghan Stasi turned in sub-par rounds, with Joy-Connelly leading the field with a 5-under-par 67.

"Any time you have a 67 at a USGA event, you're happy with that," Joy-Connelly said. "You just have to go around and play smart, solid golf."

Florida closed the first day with a one-shot lead over Georgia, which was the only team to have all three of its players shoot under par.

Emilie Meason led Georgia, which won back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2011, with a 69, while reigning U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur champion Margaret Shirley shot 70 for a team score of 139. Teammate Lauren Lightfritz shot 71 to tie for the sixth lowest score in the 150-player field, but her score was not used.

Kendall Griffin reacts to her missed par putt on the 14th hole at the 2015 Women's State Team at Dalhousie Golf Club in Cape Girardeau, Mo. on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015. (Copyright USGA/Steven Gibbons)

"We kind of expected that," said Joy-Connelly about Georgia's strong start.

It was another three strokes back to Virginia and South Carolina at 142.

Joy-Connelly and Stasi were both on the Florida squad that finished runner-up to New Jersey by three strokes in 2013 in Kettering, Ohio.

"It's a good motivator," Joy-Connelly said about the 10th edition of the tournament, which was Florida's best showing since winning the title in 1999.

Joy-Connelly had six birdies and one bogey in her round after getting her first look at the course earlier in the week.

"We all really like it," Joy-Connelly said. "We had a little talk about a couple of the holes, but it's so well done and it's very nice. We're lucky to be here."

Joy-Connelly, making her ninth appearance in the event but just her second for Florida since moving from Massachusetts, said the key to her round was keeping the ball below the hole, giving herself uphill putts.

"The greens putt well, and we're just going to try to have patience and plod along," Joy-Connelly said.

Defending champion New Jersey was tied for 13th at 149, while Missouri was tied for 15th with North Carolina inside today's cut line, which will be the top 21 teams and ties.

Missouri started on No. 10 and collectively shot 11-over par on the back nine before righting itself with a collective 1-over on the front nine.

"A lot of players, a bad front dictates their back," Powell said. "They're like, 'I'm out of it.' But these three are like, 'Come on, you're a better player than that,' and they'll turn it around and get a number you can count. I'm beyond proud of them. They all did great. It was position day."

Eckelkamp was the rookie of the Missouri threesome, playing in her first USGA event.

She's an accomplished golfer, having won 19 tournaments while playing for Maryville University and twice finishing as the Missouri Women's Amateur runner-up, including this year at the Country Club of St. Albans.

"I don't know if you want to say more importance," Eckelkamp said about the event, comparing it to others she's competed in. "You go to the range and they bring out [a sign] Team Missouri, so there's a little bit ... You're proud whenever you go for a college tournament, but it seems like they're a little bit more laid back, the college tournaments, than this. I just think the USGA name attached to it, it's a bigger tournament. You get hyped up. For me, I know, a little nerves, but I'm used to that on the first hole until you get your first drive out there, then it's kind of, 'Let's go, I'm in my zone now.'

"But no, it's awesome and it feels like a big tournament. They make you feel special, like you've been invited and it's an accomplishment to get out here, one of the few people in your state."

Eckelkamp, with her father Al caddying, had the most consistent round of the three Missourians with a 2-over 37 on each side. But within that consistency was adversity on her first nine, where she followed a three-putt bogey on her third hole (No. 12) with a double bogey on the next hole, a par 3.

She made the turn with at 1-over thanks to birdies on Nos. 16 and 18.

"It was one of those days where half my pars were up-and-down pars," Eckelkamp said. "I played well, but at the same time, I wasn't making two-putt pars. Scrambling makes you work a little harder and [makes you] a little older, but it was one those days where I fought for my 74. And it felt good."

Dolan made the turn at 6-over -- she had a triple bogey and double bogey on Nos. 16 and 17, respectively -- before shooting 1-under 35 on the front nine.

Port saved her best golf for the second nine, too, after shooting 40 on the back nine.

"I think they had a little wake-up call there at the turn," Powell said. "I think you start out, it's gut check, you're nervous, even though they say they're so seasoned."

The Missouri players punctuated their improved play on the closing hole, where Dolan made an up-and-down par from a deep, front greenside sand bunker to a back-hole location.

Dolan, who had her mother Ann caddying for her, attributed a 12-foot par putt on No. 18, her final hole on the first nine after playing the previous two holes in 5-over, for steadying her round.

"I made the one-putt on No. 18 that kind of turned it all around," said Dolan, who played four years at Missouri State and took a shot at qualifying school for the LPGA Tour last summer. "I had my hiccups, but I made my way around."

She's making her second appearance in the tournament after playing on the 2013 Missouri team that placed 26th.

"We've got a lot stronger team this year," Dolan said. "It's kind of nice it's in our home state."

Port, one of the most decorated golfers in the field and in USGA history with four U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur championships and two U.S. Women's Amateur Championships, struggled with a normally reliable putter in her round. She did manage to get a 5-foot par putt to go full circle around the edge of the cup before dropping to end her day.

"I was just off on my putting," said Port, who is making her fourth appearance for the Missouri team but her first in a number of years. "I'm a good putter, and I just didn't have my normal ... The speed was just off."

Team scores

First round

1. Florida 138 -6

2. Georiga 139 -5

3. Virginia 142 -2

4. Maryland 144 E

5. Michigan 145 +1

6. Masschusetts 147 +3

6. Pennsylvania 147 +3

8. New Mexico 148 +4

9. Alabama 149 +5

9. New Jersey 149 +5

9. Oregon 149 +5

9. South Carolina 149 +5

9. Washington 149 +5

9. Indiana 149 +5

15. North Carolina 150 +6

15. Missouri 150 +6

17. Tennessee 151 +7

18. Minnesota 152 +8

18. Mississippi 152 +8

18. Louisiana 152 +8

21. Delaware 153 +9

21. Oklahoma 153 +9

21. Kentucky 153 +9

21. Kansas 153 +9

25. Texas 154 +10

26. Hawaii 155 +11

26. California 155 +11

26. New York 155 +11

29. Iowa 156 +12

29. Nebraska 156 +12

29. Utah 156 +12

32. Arizona 157 +13

32. Ohio 157 +13

34. Colorado 158 +14

35. Idaho 160 +16

35. District of Columbia 160 +16

37. Maine 161 +17

38. South Dakota 163 +19

39. West Virginia 164 +20

40. Arkansas 166 +22

41. Montana 167 +23

41. Connecticut 167 +23

43. Rhode Island 170 +26

44. Nevada 173 +29

45. New Hampshire 175 +31

46. Wisconsin 179 +35

47. Illinois 181 +37

48. Wyoming 183 +39

49. Alaska 185 +41

50. North Dakota 197 +53

Top 10 individual scores

1. Tara Joy-Connelly, Florida, 67

2. Emilie Meason, Georgia, 69

2. Dominique Galloway, New Mexico, 69

4. Margaret Shirley, Georgia, 70

4. Abby Portyrata, Virginia, 70

6. Lauren Lightfritz, Georgia 71

6. Meghan Stasi, Florida, 71

6. Brynn Walker, Pennsylvania, 71

6. Shannon Johnson, Massachusetts, 71

6. Amanda Jacobs, Washington, 71