game did likewise here yesterday at the World Amateur Team Championships.

Joell, who took painkillers to deaden the discomfort after ripping her left thumbnail off in a run-in with a shower door at her hotel, began the day with five consecutive bogeys but recovered to post an 83 over the 6,120-yard Marine Drive layout.

Her score was Bermuda's best on a miserable rainy day that saw 49 scores of 80 or higher and six at 90 or worse. Eighteen-year-old Kim Marshall, already playing in her second World Amateurs, put together a fine back nine of 39 to finish on 84 while Judithanne Astwood trudged through five-and-a-half hours of rain to finish on 87.

With the top two scores counting, Bermuda is on 167. That is good enough for 27th place in the 31-country field, ahead of Hong Kong, Guatemala, Brazil and Costa Rica.

Great Britain/Ireland led by a brilliant two-under-par round of 70 by Catriona Lambert leads with 145. Australia is second on 148, while France and New Zealand are tied on 149.

A driving rain, which began overnight and did not let up until late afternoon, led to a frustratingly long day for most golfers, none of whom finished in less than five hours.

But Bermuda's Joell had one advantage over the rest of the field. "The painkillers really settled me down,'' she said after the best first-round score she has posted in three World Amateurs appearances. "In previous years, I've let my nerves get to me in the first round. So I'll take an 83, particularly since I couldn't hold a club yesterday. It was painful to start with today, but once the painkillers kicked in I was okay.'' A birdie on the sixth hole was the highlight of the day for Joell, who hit a four-iron to within six feet on the 188-yard hole. She added another five pars the rest of the way but was let down by her putting. "I missed five putts of about four feet on holes where there was a lot of casual water around the cups,'' she said. "Take those five strokes off and it would have been a pretty good round.'' Marshall's game picked up when the rain finally stopped as she played the 10th hole.

"That's when I took off my rain gear and started to play decently,'' she said. "But I still played awful. I know the conditions were bad, but I really should have played a lot better. On the back nine I was able to concentrate a lot better. I wasn't hurrying up to hit and get back under my umbrella.'' The best hole of the day for Marshall was the 140-yard 14th, which she birdied from about eight feet. She had four more pars on the back nine and was at one-over on the back until a double-bogey six on the 18th.

Astwood's round was a frustrating one. She teed off early in the day and was forced to contend with five-and-a-half hours of rain.

"We didn't get any roll today -- what you hit is what you got,'' said the veteran of five World Amateurs. "I tried not to let the rain affect me, but I'm sure it does distort the swing.'' Still, Astwood could be happy with her putting. She made seven one-putts and did not three-putt in a round that featured five pars.

Bermuda's golfers will be matched with Japan and Argentina in today's second round, for which showers are forecast.

MADELINE JOELL.