HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE, Ark. (10/18/26) – Kayla Van de Ven was 4-under 68 and Mackenzie Cloutier was 3-under 69 to lead the Arkansas State women's golf team to a 3-under par 288 in the opening round of the Diamante Invitational hosted by Little Rock.

Van de Ven rolled in six birdies to offset two bogeys on her card and is two strokes off the individual lead held by Pureun Kim of Sam Houston. It was the fourth consecutive par or better round for Van de Ven on the season and second consecutive in the 60s following her final round 5-under 67 last week at the Lady Red Wolves Classic.

Cloutier is amoung six players tied for seventh three strokes off the lead. She drained four birdies on the day against one bogey for her fourth consecutive round under par. Caroline Hughes totaled 1-over par 73 for 41st, Sofia Bastidas and Yinyoe Yang totaled 2-over par 74 for 59th, Michelle Barrios and Ceci Lococo totaled 4-over par 76 for 77th and Zaida Wise was 11-over par 83 for 111th.

As a team, A-State turned in a second consecutive round under par at 3-under par 285, the third par or better round this season and fifth-most in any season in program history. The Red Wolves join host Little Rock in a tie for third, 12 back of Sam Houston (-15) for the lead and four back of Central Arkansas (-7) for second. California Baptist (-1), ULM (E), UNC Asheville (E), Missouri State (E), UTRGV (+1), Ball State (+1) and Ball State (+1) complete the top 10.

The second round is Monday at Diamante Country Club with the final round set for Tuesday. Live scoring is available on Scoreboard.

Diamante Invitational
18 Hole Results
t3 Arkansas State 285 (-3)
t2 Kayla Van de Ven 68 (-4)
t7 Mackenzie Cloutier 69 (-3)
t41 Caroline Hughes* 73 (+1)
t59 Sofia Bastidas 74 (+2)
t59 Yinyoe Yang 74 (+2)
t77 Michelle Barrios 76 (+4)
t77 Ceci Lococo* 76 (+4)
t111 Zaida Wise* 83 (+11)