Belville's impressive debut round heads up SSU women's golf effort at Georgetown Invitational

GEORGETOWN, Ky. -- When an individual hits the trail on his or her first collegiate outing, the nerves can be difficult to shake off considering the competition.

However, if there were any nerves, Shawnee State freshman golfer Sidnea Belville certainly did an excellent job of putting the jitters aside in her first-ever collegiate round.

The Ironton native, in fact, posted a strong outing -- and led the Bears with a nine-over 81 to tie for fourth place overall following the first day of the Georgetown Invitational Monday evening at the Cherry Blossom Golf and Country Club in Georgetown, Ky.

By shooting her opening round 81, Belville sits just five shots back of the individual lead, with Campbellsville's Riley Clark holding that mark with a four-over 76. Belville also not only matched the best opening round among all freshman, but all underclass players, as well -- with Georgetown's Kaelin Stull's 81 being the only individual to match what Belville did.

Behind Belville, another freshman competing in her first collegiate golf outing -- Bryanna Spencer -- added in a solid outing, as the Piketon native shot a 93 to place herself in ninth after the opening day of competition. Aly Wellman, a returning sophomore who posted a strong spring for the Bears to complete her freshman season in 2023-24, finished in a tie for 10th place after the opening day, shooting a 97.

Cali Baird's 15th place and Maggie Siley's 16th completed the remainder of the field.

Shawnee State gets back on the links Tuesday for what will be the second and final day of competition at the Cherry Blossom Golf and Country Club in Georgetown.