Augusta State senior Natalie Wille carded a 1-under 143 Monday in the first two rounds of the Central District Invitational hosted by Michigan State at River Wilderness Golf Club.
For the second straight tournament to open the Lady Jaguars’ 2013 spring schedule, Wille is tied for the lead heading into the third and final round. She tallied six birdies on the day over her 36 holes, including three birdies in the final six holes for a 1-under 71 in her afternoon round. Wille is tied with the 16th-ranked player in the nation, Vanderbilt’s Lauren Stratton, and the No. 28 player Caroline Powers of Michigan State.
With Wille’s effort, the Lady Jags posted rounds of 306-305 and are eighth in the 12-team field at 611 (+35). Junior Casey Kennedy is 10th at 4-over 148 (75-73). Senior Julia Stalbro (79-81) and junior Christine Duschek-Hansen (80-80) are tied for 53rd and senior Marit Bjerke (80-81) is tied for 55th.
Vanderbilt, ranked 13th in the nation, opened up a two-shot lead on No. 17 Michigan State. SMU, ranked 31st, is third and seven strokes off the lead while Denver and UCF are tied for fourth.
ASU will be paired with TCU and Minnesota for today’s third and final round, which began with a shotgun start at 8:00 a.m.