After round one of the Golfweek Conference Challenge on Monday, the SMU Mustangs women’s golf team is in eighth place.

“We left a lot of strokes on the golf course today, so we have a lot of room for improvement the next two days,” Head Coach Jeanne Sutherland said. “We didn’t do a good job in preparation for today, that’s partly my fault and partly due to the weather. We’re going to look to improve every day this season.”

The five-player team combined for 313, two shots ahead of ninth place Central Arkansas, but 24 off the pace of tournament leader Pepperdine’s 289.

Leading the way for the Mustangs are sophomore Jenny Haglund and senior Maria Elena Villamil with 76 through the first 18-holes of the tournament, tying them for 14th place individually in the field.

While SMU hopes to find its groove in the final two days of the tournament, it will be tough sledding against defending champion Pepperdine, that has three golfers tied for first with a one-under 71 after the first day.

Rival TCU is sitting in a distant second, 12 shots behind the pace, but with only one golfer doing better than Haglund or Villamil’s 76.

With another two days to right the ship, Sutherland will be able to get her girls back into the groove of the team’s first tournament of the year, and onto a successful 2013-14 season.