No real separation at the top means Faith Martin has the field right where she wants them.

With arguably none of the top contenders owning the experience at Bowling Green Country Club that Martin has, the South Warren sophomore’s up-and-down first round has her within one shot of the lead at the KHSAA Girls’ State Golf Championship.

Martin is currently tied for third at 1-over 73, just one stroke behind co-leaders MacKenzie Neal of Madison Central and Laney Frye of Lexington Christian Academy.

“My dad always tells me you can’t win in the first day, but you can lose it,” Martin said. “Going in with a pretty good score, that makes me feel really good about tomorrow.”

Martin’s 73 led the Spartans with a 340 team score on the day, good for sixth in the team standings and 20 strokes behind first-day leader Sacred Heart Academy.

Only four strokes separate the top 10 on the leaderboard. Martin will be in contention for yet another strong state performance. She finished 16th as an eighth-grader and would have finished tied for fourth last season, but disqualified herself after signing her card for an incorrect score.

Having won several tournaments on the course, Martin is ready for one last push Wednesday.

“It was a lot of ups and downs,” Martin said of her round. “I was 2-under after 12 and I went bogey, double bogey and then I got it back with another birdie and finished with a par. … You have to recover out here at Bowling Green in these conditions. It’s a huge advantage if you can recover.”

Heavy rain early Tuesday morning took its toll on a round where the average score was 92. The first round was suspended late Tuesday after lightning within 10 miles of the course was detected. Remaining participants returned to the course around 6 p.m. only to have the first round postponed to early Wednesday morning due to darkness.

Just six teams remain to complete the first-round scoring with no more than three holes remaining.

The first round resumes at 7 a.m. CDT, followed by a short break to compile results, set the cut and announce pairings for the second round, which begins at 9:30 a.m.

“We played in hard rain in region,” Martin said regarding South Warren’s second Region 4 championship won last week at Hidden Hills in Tompkinsville. “I don’t think I’ve ever played in rain as hard as when it was coming down (today).”

Martin’s day took a wrong turn after she was 2-under coming off the 12th hole. She bogeyed the par-3 No. 13, then double-bogeyed on No. 14. Her driver sliced into a bunker and she needed two punches to set up a chip shot and two-putt.

She bounced back with a birdie on No. 16 before finishing with two pars.

Her 73 leads South Warren with McKenna Stahl firing an 83 and 92s from both Riley Medlock and Lauren Holeman.

“I’m comfortable with the score,” SWHS coach Eric Holeman said. “Faith posted a solid round, McKenna posted a solid round. My four and five really stepped up today.”

Region 4 individual champion Abbie Lee, a Glasgow sophomore, is tied for 22nd with an 8-over 80. Greenwood’s Allison Wheeler is tied for 38th at 11-over.

Team Standings

1. Sacred Heart Academy, 320

2. Lexington Christian Academy, 324

3. Madison Central, 327

6. South Warren, 340

Individual Standings

T1. MacKenzie Neal, Madison Central – 72 (E)

T1. Laney Frye, Lexington Christian Academy – 72

T3. Faith Martin, South Warren – 73

T22. Abbie Lee, Glasgow – 80

T38. McKenna Stahl, South Warren – 83

T38. Allison Wheeler, Greenwood – 83

T86. Riley Medlock, South Warren – 92

T86. Lauren Holeman, South Warren – 92

T107. Abigail Cline, South Warren – 96{&end}