With spring air sweeping through the open fairways, the No. 25 Michigan women’s golf team teed off for the opening round of play at the Baylor Tapatio Springs Shootout in Boerne, Texas. The Wolverines had just one thing in mind — winning the tournament.

Freshmen Isabelle Gendreau led the way for Michigan, shooting a 71 and finishing the day in first place. The Wolverines currently sit in second, six strokes behind leading Baylor and 13 strokes over par.

While Gendreau has struggled in past tournaments, coming in 43rd at the UNLV Spring Invitational last weekend, coach Kathy Tiechert is confident that Gendreau will continue her outstanding play through the weekend.

“She’s young, yet she is still a very experienced player so we’re really happy with her,” Tiechert said. “She is sitting in a great position right now and we are looking forward to seeing how she will do in the next couple of days. Hopefully, she will keep this pace.”

While Gendreau was the only player at the tournament to shoot under par, which was 72, sophomore Ali Stinson shot just three strokes over, good enough for 10th place.

Senior Laura Olin — who had been on a roll lately, winning two consecutive Big Ten Golfer of the Week Awards as well as a first place finish at the East/West Rio Verde Invitational struggled at the Tapatio Springs Resort, shooting a 77 and finishing the day in 18th place. Junior Amy Schmucker followed in Olin’s wake, struggling on the course and ending the round tied in 27th place after shooting an uncharacteristic 7-over-par.

This opening round was unexpected to Schmucker, who had been performing especially well this season — winning the season opener Central District Classics. She ended the round tied for 27th place after shooting an uncharacteristic 7-over-par.

“There are still two more days of the tournament, and it’s a very close race,” Teichert said. “There is still a lot of golf out there to be played. We’re just going to have to take one shot at a time and maintain our dedication and focus and continue to execute our shots.”

While the Wolverines were happy to be out of the frigid Ann Arbor outdoors, they faced other problems in Texas. Due to the lack of precipitation, the greens were difficult and the fairways were rough.

“The course isn’t in as good of shape as we wanted it to be,” Teichert said. “It just isn’t in as great of shape, so it’s a little difficult to putt and play the greens. Yet, at the same time, it’s the same conditions for everyone, and we just have to play with what we have. I’m not going to use the course or anything else as excuses.”

Tiechert wasted no time expressing her desires to win this tournament and to start preparing her team for the Big Ten Championships, which Michigan will host in a month. Tiechert is aware the golfers have plenty to improve on over the next two days but has no doubt in her mind that they can leave Texas with another trophy and up Michigan’s team tournament wins this season to two.

“Our goal is to win,” Tiechert said. “We came down here to play. We didn’t play that bad, but we can play a lot better, and we are in second place right now. Are we going to come out with a win? That is obviously the goal, and that is what we are looking forward to doing.”