The Stanford Golf Course was unrelenting as the Washington State women’s golf team saw its name drop down the leaderboard as the first round of the Stanford Intercollegiate came to a close.

In the 17-team tournament, the Cougars will have to put in a remarkable effort over the next couple days to stay in the hunt. They are tied for 14th place with the Oregon after posting an 18-over (302), five strokes off of a three-team tie for 7th.

No. 9 Stanford, the host school, leads the field at three-over (287). Hot on the Cardinal’s heels are No. 12 UCLA and No. 21 Washington, who are both at five-over (289). No. 1 USC is in fifth, six strokes behind Stanford.

The Cougars top performers on Day 1 were junior Cherokee Kim, sophomore Alivia Brown and senior Rachel Lewis. Kim is leading the way for the Cougars at three-over (74), and is in a 17-way tie for 25th. After having the chance to finish the front nine at even par, Kim bogeyed the ninth and then followed up with another bogey on 10. She found some consistency and made par on five of the next seven holes, and then bogeyed the 18th.

Consistency was the name of the game for Lewis, who shot two-over on the front nine and two-over on the back.

Brown had only eight pars in the first round, the fewest on the team, but weathered her four bogeys and two double bogeys with four birdies. Both Brown and Lewis finished the day a stroke back from Kim at four-over (75) in a tie for 42nd.

In order for the Cougars to improve they need to make sure they come out of the clubhouse hitting the ball in the fairway today. With some Cougars struggling on the sixth, ninth, tenth and 14th holes, there will need to be changes in order for the team to climb the leaderboard.

Live results of the second round, which begins at 8:30 a.m. today, will be posted on birdiefire.com.

Reporting by Alex Payton