EAST LANSING — Liz Nagel lit up Michigan State’s Forest Akers West shooting a four-under-par 68 in the first round of stroke play at the Michigan Women’s State Amateur.

Niles’ Elizabeth Ecker was tied for 13th with four other golfers after shooting 76.

Although Forest Akers is Nagel’s home course, she credits a change in her putting style for her success rather than familiarity with Forest Akers.

“I just went from a cross-hand to a traditional grip on my putter,” said Nagel, who is from DeWitt. “Putting is always my biggest problem but today I was actually sinking some putts and that really helped my round today.”

Carley Saint-Onge (Marquette) and Jacqueline Setas (East Lansing) both shot a one-under-par 71 and are tied for second place going into tomorrow’s final stroke play round. Saint-Onge also said her putter was working in her favor as she had back-to-back birdies on 12 and 13 and again on 15 and 16. She narrowly missed birdie putts on 14 and 17.

“My putter was hot — obviously.” said Saint-Onge.

Setas said she felt like the greens were rolling well and she also had a strong day on the greens.

“Mostly my caddie and I were just trying to stay hydrated and not think about the heat,” she said. “Those last few holes were rough.”

The Michigan Women’s Amateur features two days of stroke play after which the field will be cut to 32 for match play. Match play rounds will run Wednesday through Friday and culminate with the championship final on Friday afternoon.

Spectators are welcome and admission is free. For complete results go to www.gam.org.