VIDEO: Suzanne Strudwick Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – For the second straight tournament of the spring, the Carson-Newman women's team makes the trek down to Florida, this time taking part in the Women's Spring Intercollegiate hosted by Lincoln Memorial at the Golf Club at Fleming Island in Fleming Island, Fla.
The Eagles started the spring with a 10th-place showing at the World Golf Invitational at the beginning of February. Carson-Newman was the best Par-3 scoring team in the event, shooting +5 at the Invitational on such holes. As a team, the Eagles made a 10 stroke improvement over the two rounds of competition.
"We had an opportunity – we actually got ourselves with about four holes to go into fourth or fifth position," head coach Suzanne Strudwick said. "They fell a little, stumbled a little bit on that last hurdle, the last few holes, so that was disappointing, but, then again, it was to be expected because of the lack of practice they had had.
"(Being the best Par 4 scoring team) shows some accuracy on their approach shots, so the things we have been able to focus on, it shows they are working."
Senior Elizabeth England (Oakland, Tenn.) led the charge with a 10th-place finish on the leaderboard with a +5 score of 149 through the two-day event. Leading the C-N crew at the No. 1 spot, she was the only C-N participant to finish in the top-10 of the field, bringing her to four top-10 finishes this season.
C-N will be without their top player for this event. Her absence heading into the Intercollegiate has allowed Strudwick to tighten the usual qualifying events to see just who will make the cut to represent Carson-Newman on the travel team.
"Being a senior and a student teacher, there are some requirements there for her to stay in school and we just can't get around it. We need her during the latter half heading into conference, so this was the week that we decided would be the best for her to take off," Strudwick said. "But in saying that, it also gives our team a little preview of what it's going to be like next year without her, so some girls have to step up."
Typically playing around the No. 3 slot, Taylor Hayes (Lake Ozark, Mo.) will move into the top spot for the event after a solid qualifier with the rest of her teammates. She looks to improve upon her 66th-place finish at the World Golf Invitational.
Reagan Kinnie (Murfreesboro, Tenn.), the second-seeded Eagle, was 12-over par at the World Golf Invitational, her second-lowest par shooting total that she has already shot for thrice this season.
Jayla Sims (Hixson, Tenn.) returns to travel team action for the first time since the CBU Super Regional Preview back in October. The freshman will be playing as the No. 3 member of the squad.
Rachel Watts (Newport, Tenn.), the fourth-seeded C-N golfer, faced some struggles at the World Golf Invitational, finishing in a tie for 82nd with a +27 total score of 171.
Like Sims, Matilda Frovenholt (Öjersjö, Sweden) will also be making her first return to the field since the CBU Super Regional Preview, where she finished the event at a +28 total of 244 for a tie for 24th-place. The freshman rounds out the travel team as the fifth Eagle heading to the event.
This year marks the inaugural year for the event in the Sunshine State. Carson-Newman will face 10 other teams including South Atlantic Conference foes Coker, Lenoir-Rhyne, host team LMU, Queens, Tusculum and No. 11 Wingate, the only ranked team in the field.
The event will take place at the Golf Club at Fleming Island, which is the home to a 6,780-yard course with a par of 71.
The two-day intercollegiate will tee-off Monday morning for the first of two rounds of 18 holes. Live scoring will be provided through BirdieFire for the duration of the Intercollegiate. A full recap will be available at cneagles.com at the conclusion of each day of competition.
