OCEAN ISLE BEACH, N.C. – Veterans Amanda Levy, Alexandria Bare and Savannah Thompson each carded a five-over 77 in the opening round of the Lenoir-Rhyne-hosted Myrtle Beach Intercollegiate to anchor the UNC Pembroke golf team to a sixth-place standing in the 17-team field.

The Braves (+23) find themselves just two shots out of third place after shooting a first-round 311 on the par-72, 5,937-yard Panther's Run Course at the Ocean Ridge Plantation in southeastern North Carolina. Tusculum (+14) sits atop the team leaderboard, one shot clear of second-place Wingate (+15). The host Bears (+21) kick off a run of four team separated by just two shots, including West Georgia (+22) and Queens (+22) in a tie for fourth.

The UNCP trio (Levy, Bare and Thompson) at five-over shares 12th with six others in the 89-player field, while Katy Flax (+8) and Maddy Corley (+8) are among a five-way tie for 39th after firing a pair of first-round 80s.

Tusculum's Katie Tomassoni (+1), Wingate's Diana McDonald (+1) and Lincoln Memorial's Dominika Czudkova hold a one-stroke lead in the individual race after 18 holes.

The second and final round will begin at 8:30 a.m. with the five Braves going off hole number one between 9:10 and 9:42 a.m.