First round play for the Lady Puerto Rico Classic began at 8 a.m, Sunday morning. Taglao Jeeravivitaporn was the first Cyclone to tee off, as she started on the par five, fourth hole of the River Course at the Rio Mar Country Club. As all six Cyclones would proceed to tee off and it seemed like they were never able to completely wake up. 

Through the first 13 holes the Cyclones quickly dropped seven strokes as they fell all the way to seventh place. The 17 early bogeys and even one double bogey put Iowa State in a huge hole to begin the tournament.

At 10:22 a.m. Taglao Jeeravivitaporn and Liyana Durisic were the highest ranked Cyclones on the individual leaderboard. Each golfer was one over par, which put them at tied for 23rd for the tournament.

It would get worse before it got better for Iowa State. The slow start would continue as the big numbers kept rolling in. The Cyclones proceeded to add four more strokes to their team total as they sat tied for 11th at 11 over par heading down the stretch of round one.

It continued to pile on, as the first round came to an end. Coach, Christie Martens and her team would finish day one with a total team score of 16 over par, which put them at tied for 10th for the tournament.

After hot starts for Taglao Jeeravivitaporn and Liyana Durisic, they would cool off a bit down the stretch. The duo finished four over par and three over par respectively. Ruby Chou would be the lowest scoring Cyclone from round one. The freshman finished with three birdies and only four bogeys on the day. She is currently tied for 16th heading into day two.

At last week’s UCF Challenge, Iowa State finished an abysmal +17 on par threes for the tournament. The same struggles have followed the Cyclones, as they currently have the worst average score on par threes out of the whole field. They averaged a score of 3.30 on par threes with a total score of six over par for round one.

The Cyclones lack of red number are also continuing to limit their success. They sit near the bottom of total birdies for per team, with a total of 10 after round one. If Iowa State wants to claw themselves out of its monster whole, they need to find major improvement in this area.

Ultimately, the 15 or more mile-per-hour wind proved to be challenging for 15 teams in the field. The tournament leading Oklahoma State Cowboys were the only school to finish day one under par as a team. Although Iowa State was not the only school to post high numbers, its big hole might be too much to overcome. They currently sit 19 shots off of the lead. 

Tomorrow morning calls for similar weather, as there is expected to be 16 mph winds for much of the morning in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. There is still a lot of golf to play, and the Cyclones should have every opportunity to change the narrative of their overall play from this year’s Lady Puerto Rico Classic.