The Baylor School boys' golf team blundered a bit in the wet conditions.
The Red Raiders shot 32-over-par 320 Monday in the opening round of the Division II-AA state tournament at Willowbrook Golf Course in Manchester.
One of the Lady Red Raiders has to complete her first round this morning, but they are in second place, five shots behind St. Agnes.
The Baylor guys are sixth out of six teams and 16 strokes off the lead after all golfers endured a morning weather delay that lasted more than 2 1/2 hours.
"It was a really tough day," Baylor coach Gary Partrick said by phone. "Besides the rain, we had 20 to 25 mile-per-hour winds. We did not flight our ball well at times. It's the most difficult day of scoring that I can remember.
"No team broke 300 after a region tournament where we all broke 300."
Briarcrest and Memphis University School are tied for the lead at 304 heading into the final round.
Gavin Roberson led Baylor with a 5-over 77 and Matt McKenny shot a 79. Chris Burkhart of McCallie shot an 80.
"We're going to try to win tomorrow and shoot the lowest number and see what that gets us," Partrick said. "We're going to go as low as we can. There's no pressure on us. We can free-swing."
In the girls' competition, Baylor's Tia Teiniketo posted a 6-over 78, Danielle Bates shot an 83 and Katherine Holmes has one hole to play and stands at 8 over. The top two scores count toward the team total.
"With the girls, that's not a bad day," Partrick said. "We're where we want to be."
St. Agnes leads the girls' tournament at 9 over with one player yet to complete the first round.
"We're hoping we can play better tomorrow, and St. Agnes has always been the chaser," Partrick said. "Lets see how they handle sleeping on the lead."
Girls Preparatory School is in third place after its golfers finished in near-darkness. Emily Blake Shot an 82 and Mary Melissa Manuel shot an 88.
"Our young ladies fought through some hard conditions," GPS coach Rob Riddle said. "They played well considering everything."
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.