ELGIN, S.C. -- Playing in less than ideal weather conditions, Carson-Newman concluded the first day of the South Atlantic Conference Women's Golf Championship in a tie for seventh on Sunday at the Members Club at Woodcreek.
The Eagles sit 20 shots out of first place at +42 with a 330 total. Of the 90 holes played by C-N, the team shot for par on 44 of them, placing them at third for par scoring in the field.
None of the Eagles were under par on the day as everyone shot for par or above. Three of the ladies shot their highest round scores of the 2017-18 campaign.
"This is one of those days that a coach has few words," head coach Suzanne Strudwick said.
The lowest scoring Eagle in the first round was Elizabeth England (Oakland, Tenn.) who was in a tie for sixth by the end of Sunday with a +6 round of 78. She is just three strokes out of first after shooting for par on all but six holes which resulted in bogeys, landing her in a tie for second on par shots in the first round. She was four-over at the turn into the back nine where she shot one-over on holes 16 and 17.
"Awesome effort by Elizabeth, our senior and showing her toughness and resolve in very very difficult conditions," Strudwick mentioned. "Wind gusts were up to 40 miles per hour today."
Anna Davenport (Roswell, Ga.) continues to show why she has moved on the travel team for C-N with a nine-over score of 81, good enough for a tie at 20th. In just her fourth event of the season, she carded a 41 through the front nine with a trio of bogeys and a double bogey before going +4 in the back half.
She was tied for second on par 4 scoring by the end of the first round with a +2 clip of 4.20 on such holes.
"I should not have to rely on a walk-on for our second-lowest round, but once again, Anna is proving that will, determination and competitiveness outshines 'skill,'" Strudwick said of the junior.
Three strokes behind the junior sits Jayla Sims (Hixson, Tenn.) at a tie for 31st with her highest round score of the season at 84. The freshman started her day with a four-over performance in the front nine before finding struggles in the back nine where she doubled her score, pushing her to +12 in the first round.
Reagan Kinnie (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) sits at 45th on the leaderboard with a +15 score of 87, her highest round score of the season. The sophomore shot for par on just five holes on Sunday.
A pair of strokes behind Kinnie is Allie Fletcher (Cumming, Ga.) in a tie for 47th. The front nine was less than friendly to the sophomore as she shot +11 with a pair of bogeys, three double bogeys and a triple bogey. The back nine saw improvement as she went six-over to close the day with an 89, also a season-high round score for her.
Kinnie and Fletcher are seven and 10 spots out of last, respectively.
"Jayla is still learning as a freshman and her 84 was expected but should have been our high score," Strudwick said. "Again, we have two upperclassmen that have not performed. We need them to show up tomorrow without excuses."
A three-way tie for first leads the field through the first day as Tusculum's Cydney Murrell, Queens' Cameryn Smith and Wingate's Warissa Puangcharoen all shot +3 scores of 75 on Sunday.
No. 15 Wingate is currently the top team in the field at +22 with a 310. Tusculum is second with a 316 while Anderson is third at +29.
The conference championship continues on Monday with the second round of play. Fans are encouraged to follow the tournament through live scoring that will be updated every three holes.
