BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Two Dolphins sit in the top-10 after the first 36 holes and Jacksonville University women's golf is second after the opening day of the Hoover Invitational on Monday.
 
Ivete Rodrigues is T4 and Gemma Burgess is T10 with 18 holes to play at Hoover Country Club.
 
Rodrigues opened her day with a 1-under 71. Her first six holes were pars, and her first birdie came on the Par-4 15th. She gave a stroke back on the 18th, before a stretch of seven pars, broken up by only a birdie on the Par-5 sixth to end her first round. Her afternoon was a bit more of an up-and-down experience. It started smooth, as she had eight pars in her first nine, but a stretch of two bogeys and a double over her next four holes forced her to reset. Over her final five holes of the day, she birdied two and parred two more. Her 26 total pars tied for the most in the field through the first two rounds.
 
Burgess, a freshman, weathered a wild first round to set herself up well going into the final round. After a double-bogey on her first hole of her collegiate career, she parred three of her next four. Her first birdie came on her ninth hole of the round, the Par-4 15th. The back half of her opening round had some tough moments, like three bogeys, and some highlights, like four pars and wrapping the round with consecutive birdies. Much of the first half of her second round was alternating pars and bogeys. Her back nine was blemish-free, as she closed the day with seven pars and a pair of birdies on back-to-back holes, giving her a team-best five on the day.
 
Fellow freshman Issy Hopkins started her day on a high-note, sinking a birdie on the Par-5 sixth. She had ten total pars in her first round, before shaving three strokes off of her score in the second. Seven of her first eight holes in the afternoon were pars, and she closed her day with two pars and three more birdies and is T16. She led the Dolphins in Par-5 scoring, shooting even-par.
 
Casey Powell had six pars and a birdie in her first nine of the day, and closed her first round with six more pars, closing the back-half with three straight. After a tough start the second round, she hit a rhythm, burying a pair of birdies and five pars before making the turn. Five more pars closed out her day, and she is T18 heading into the final round.
 
Jenna Fonda had five pars in her first round, and was 15 strokes better in the afternoon, matching Burgess for the second-lowest 18-hole score by a Dolphin on the day, firing a 74. She sank a pair of birdies on the front, adding five pars. She added two more birdies in her final nine of the day.
 
JU was best on Par-4s, scoring the second-best team number on such holes. Rodrigues shot -1, second-lowest score in the field. The team's 20 total birdies were also fourth-best overall.
 
The final round is scheduled for an 9:30 a.m. shotgun start.