UAB’s Brooke Mangan is the individual leader after firing a one-over par 73 on the first day of the 2004 Conference USA Women’s Golf Championship at the par-72, 6,197-yard Shady Oaks Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. USF and Tulane are tied for the team lead with 318 (+30), seven strokes ahead of host TCU in third place.

Mangan finished the front nine with a 39, but shot a two-under 34 for on the back nine with birdies on 13 and 16.

“You definitely have to place the ball around the course,” Mangan said. “Otherwise you will face some tricky putts that will slide away from the hole 10 feet.”

“I think I have the skills to win (the tournament),” Mangan added. “We’ll see what happens. You have to take it one round at a time.”

East Carolina’s Adrienne Millican is two shots off the pace with a three-over 75. TCU’s Brooke Tull, USF’s Daniella Ronderos, and Tulane’s Liliana Alvarez are tied for third place, each carding a 77 in the opening round. The Green Wave’s Mary Ellen Jacobs finished alone in sixth place with a 78, while five players are tied for seventh place at 79.

The head coaches of the two first-place teams echoed Mangan’s thoughts on being in the lead after the first round and course management.

“Based on our start,” Bulls’ head coach Susan Holt said, “we had quite a good finish. It’s a great golf course – extremely challenging. It’s a very difficult golf course. It will be a real challenge for any team to put up four solid scores. If someone can do that over three days, they will win it.”

“It’s always nice (to lead the tournament after the first day), Green Wave head coach Sue Bower said. “Every coach knew the course would be the big winner. This is a U.S. Open-type course and greens. It’s a great lesson for the players. You have to forget what par is and make each hole an individual challenge.”

Southern Miss is in fourth place (326) followed by UAB (328), ECU (330), Louisville (338), Memphis (344) and Cincinnati (367) in spots five through nine in the team competition.

The second round gets underway at 9 a.m. (ET).

Team Leaderboard
T1. USF 318 (+30)
T1. Tulane 318 (+30)
3. TCU 325 (+37)
4. Southern Miss 326 (+38)
5. UAB 328 (+40)
6. East Carolina 330 (+42)
7. Louisville 338 (+50)
8. Memphis 344 (+56)
9. Cincinnati 367 (+79)

Individual Leaderboard
1. Brooke Mangan, UAB 73 (+1)
2. Adrienne Millican, ECU 75 (+3)
T3. Liliana Alvarez, TUL 77 (+5)
T3. Daniella Ronderos, USF 77 (+5)
T3. Brooke Tull, TCU 77 (+5)
6. Mary Ellen Jacobs, TUL 78 (+6)
T7. Mary Calderon, USF 79 (+7)
T7. Jill Crowe, USF 79 (+7)
T7. Elly Leonard, LOU 79 (+7)
T7. Ofelia Lopez, USM 79 (+7)