LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky women’s golf team is in first place following 18 holes at the Paradise Invitational at the Osprey Point Golf Course (par 72, 6,204 yards) in Boca Raton, Florida, on Monday.

The Wildcats put together an even-par 288 as a team, sitting one shot ahead of Tennessee in second place and five shots ahead of Georgia in third place.

Kentucky’s top four scorers – Cathryn Brown, Anastasia Hekkonen, C.A. Carter and Karlie Campbell – are all among the top 30 on the individual leaderboard, which includes 90 participants.

Meanwhile, Samantha Paradise, the junior transfer who is competing as an individual, took her first swing as a Cat this morning and she turned in an even-par for sixth place.

Brown and Hekkonen pace the team with a pair of 2-under-par 70s to share third place. The duo is just one shot back of two players tied at the top.

Hekkonen, a sophomore from Helsinki, Finland, earned a team-high five birdies on her scorecard Monday, including four on the front nine. Her hot start helped her to the second-best, 18-hole round in her college career at 2-under.

Brown, a junior from Eddyville, Kentucky, littered four birdies across her round, including her very first hole of the day and her very last hole of the day, both par-5s.

The long driver improved her streak of 16 straight rounds contributed to the team total. That’s a stretch that dates back to last spring.

Hekkonen and Brown are both looking for their second individual crowns of the season, with Hekkonen taking the season debut at the Folds of Honor Collegiate in September and Brown topping the field in the very next tournament at The Johnie Imes Invitational also in September.

Sitting in 10th place on the individual leaderboard and third in the lineup, C.A. Carter hauled in a +1 Monday. The sophomore has played some really good golf of late, recording at most a +1 in three of her last four rounds. The Lexington, Kentucky, native didn’t waste much ink Monday, earning just three bogeys and a couple of birdies through 18 holes.

She is in the hunt for the first top-10 finish of her college career.

Just behind her is Karlie Campbelll, a sophomore from Ethridge, Tennessee, who assembled a 3-over-par 75 for 28th place. She rolled in a pair of birdies on a pair of par-4s on the front nine, including Nos. 3 and 8, to make the turn even-par. She wrote in a double and a bogey early on on the back nine but followed those up with four straight pars to finish out the first round.

Raleygh Simpson earned an 8-over-par 80 for 68th place out of 90 participants Monday, with two more opportunities ahead of her.

Kentucky will go off the first tee for the second round Tuesday, beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET. The Wildcats will be paired with Tennessee and Georgia.

Fans are encouraged to follow along with live scoring here: https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/239602/scoring/team.

For the latest on the Kentucky women’s golf team, follow the team on X, Facebook, and Instagram, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.