The Wildcat women golfers headed out yesterday for the first round of the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational without their top gun.

The absence of sophomore Erica Blasberg showed as the ladies fell to 12th place with only one golfer in the top 30 after Sunday's round.

The tournament, held in Austin, Texas, is the first for the Wildcats after more than three weeks off, and the rust showed as they stumbled to a 39-over-par 327, their worst round of the year and 18 shots back of host Texas.

Cassandra Kirkland was the only bright spot for the team, posting a 2-over par 74 and finishing in second place, two shots off Chris Brady of Vanderbilt.

"I started really bad, bogeying (number) one and two, but after that I focused a lot more and managed a couple of birdies to get back into it," Kirkland said after the round. "I made a lot of mistakes, but my chipping and putting was pretty good."

The highlight of Kirkland's day came on the 520-yard 11th, where she hit her drive into the woods and had to punch out.

The result left her laying two in the fairway and standing 200 yards from the stick.

"I hit it in the woods and punched back into the fairway to 200 yards," Kirkland recalled. "I pulled out my 7 wood and hit it a foot from the flag."

The result was a birdie and Kirkland said she saw herself making a bogey or worse.

After Kirkland's 74, the next closest Wildcat is junior Mar Garcia, who shot a 10-over par 82 and is sitting at a tie for 39th.

The Wildcats look to be missing Blasberg, who isn't competing this week after she received a sponsor's exemption to play in the LPGA's Kraft Nabisco Championship next week in Rancho Mirage, California.

Blasberg competed in the Welch's/Fry's Championship two weeks ago at Del Urich Golf Club in Tucson, but missed the cut after rounds of 75-71.

The Wildcats tee it up this morning at 8 a.m. at The Hills Country Club, a Jack Nicklaus-designed course.