Freshman Lauren English nailed a hole-in-one, but the Iowa women’s golf team largely struggled on Monday at the Lady Northern Intercollegiate.

English said the ace on the 127-yard par-3 sixth hole was the second of her career and she didn’t see the ball roll into the hole.

"People on the green were cheering," she said in a release. "It hit on the hill behind and rolled back down about 10 feet."

The team sits in a tie for eighth place in of a 12-team field in French Lick, Ind., and head coach Megan Menzel said she believes the Hawkeyes’ short game and inability to hit accurate approach shots held them back.

"We struggled a lot around the greens — just chipping and putting," Menzel told The Daily Iowan. "[The greens] are pretty tough; they have a lot of hills, undulation. We need to do a better job of managing our approach shots and putting ourselves in better positions to score."

Junior Kristi Cardwell was a bright spot for the Hawkeyes in the second round, firing a 1-under 70 — including birdies on her final three holes. The strong performance left her in a tie for eighth place at 6 over, eight strokes behind leader Kendall Prince of Ohio State.

Menzel praised Cardwell’s play, noting that she was consistently hitting the ball "high-6 feet," 6 feet from the hole on the high side.

English and senior Chelsea Harris are tied for 35th place at 13 over for the tournament. Junior Gigi DiGrazia is tied for 56th place with a 19-over 161, and freshman Shelby Phillips is in a tie for 60th place with at 21 over. Sophomore Karly Grouwinkel, competing individually, finished the first day tied for 69th place after carding a 42 over.

Today’s final round will tee off at 7:30 a.m., and live scoring will be available at GolfStat.com.

— by Tork Mason