Juli Inkster leads the field after day one at the Suquamish Clearwater Casino Legends Cup

KINGSTON — Juli Inkster was in the zone on day one of the Suquamish Clearwater Casino Legends Cup.

Coming off a second place finish in the U.S. Senior Women’s Open two weeks ago, Inkster sunk eight birdies and no bogies for an 8-under 65 in her first round Friday afternoon at White Horse Golf Club.

That score put her at the top of the leaderboard after the first 18 holes. White Horse is known to be a tough course, but Inkster wasn’t too fazed.

“You definitely have to hit the fairway,” Inkster said. “It’s a second shot course, you have to get some good iron shots in there.”

Those second shots allowed her to consistently get birdie and par putts from in close. She split her eight birdies evenly between the front and back nine.

“I hit a lot of good wedge shots,” Inkster said. “I gave myself a lot of chances out there.”

With rain and thunderstorms in the forecast, the tournament held a split tee start and moved tee times up two hours early. Golfers began on the first and tenth holes at 9 a.m. It turned out to be the right decision, as rain began to fall about 20 minutes after Inkster and defending champion Trish Johnson completed their round.

Johnson finished the day tied for third with Michele Redman, who placed fourth at the recent Senior Women’s Open.

Redman said she got off to a slow start with a bogey on hole two, but soon found her game. A 15-foot birdie put on hole five helped turn her day around.

“I took advantage of the Par-5’s and really got it going the last 13 to 14 holes,” Redman said. “I hit some really good shots today.”

Redman then hit three birdies down the stretch on 12, 13 and 14 and another on 16. She said she’s in a bit better form than she was for the inaugural Legends Cup last year thanks to participating in the women’s open in May.

“I’m a little more practiced this year because we had the open a couple weeks ago,” Redman said. “That really is the biggest difference for me.”

Ten golfers shot par (73) or better on Friday. Moira Dunn-Bolhs is in second place with a 6-under 67 and will be paired with Inkster on Saturday in the final round.

Nicole Jeray, Christa Johnson and Michelle McGann are tied for fifth with a 3-under 70. Jean Bartholomew, Wendy Ward and Tammie Green are each at even par.

Tee times for Saturday, June 8

11 a.m. — Allison Finney/Tina Tombs.

11:09 a.m. — Cindy Miller/Jane Blalock.

11:18 a.m. — Joanne Carner/Sandra Palmer.

11:27 a.m. — Gail Graham/Sue Ertl.

11:36 a.m. — Anita Wicks/Leslie Folsom.

11:45 a.m. — Pat Hurst/Jackie Little.

11:54 a.m. — Elaine Crosby/Laura Shanahan.

12:03 p.m. — Cindy Rarick/Hollis Stacy.

12:12 p.m. — Maria McBride/Lorie Kane.

12:21 p.m. — Heather Drew/Lori West.

12:30 p.m. — Lara Tennant/Alicia DiBos