Photos courtesy of Alex Fisher of Alex Fisher Photo.

First-day leaders seemed to reach a consensus: eight birdies is a magical number. Among Thursday’s top five golfers, four of them made eight birdies on the day. Lexi Thompson and Meena Lee limited the damage to two bogeys each, and they share the podium at minus-six. Lisa McCloskey and Brittany Lincicome allowed three bogeys, and sit one shot back in third. Jennifer Kirby joins the latter two at minus-five, counting seven birdies and two bogeys in her round.

Monroe golf club was susceptible to low scores on Thursday, but it possessed a certain amount of bite. Stacy Lewis sat minus-three through five holes, then ran into a three-hole, bogey fence and dropped back to even. She started quickly on her back nine to recover two of those shots, then went bogey-bogey-birdie to finish at minus-one on the day. Not out of it, but certainly frustrated by the lapses in concentration and execution.

Thoughts for day two? Weather, perhaps lots of it. Those who tee off early should avoid it. Those with afternoon tee times will deal with potential delays, a wet golf course and more, late-afternoon storms. If the greens soften, the late shift might throw darts at the flag sticks and be rewarded with birdie opportunities. Mother Nature gives and take, although not always equally.

Our prediction is another low round from one of the leaders and a halfway-mark of minus-ten or better. Enjoy the photographs.