CARMEL, Ind. – A 14-over first round highlighted the women's golf team's first day at the UINDY Invitational, landing in a tie for seventh-place at 609 by the end of Monday from the Prairie View Golf Club.
The Eagles sat in a tie for fifth by the end of the first round with a 302 total before shooting a 307 total later in the evening.
As a unit, the Eagles carded 14 birdies while shooting for par on a total of 111 holes. C-N was +9 on Par 3 holes while going 30-over on Par 4s and 14-over on Par 5s.
"A very encouraging start," head coach Suzanne Strudwick said. "It has been a tough tournament so far. Over six inches of rain had made the course almost unplayable yesterday in the practice round so not good preparation."
Sophomore Jayla Sims (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) closed the first day of competition in a tie for 22nd at seven-over par. She had the best round of all C-N participants in the early portion of the day even at par thanks to a couple of birdies and a double bogey on seven. Her 72 in the morning marked the lowest round score of her career. The second round, however, brought some struggles for her, carding a round of 79. She did shoot for par on 26 holes throughout the day.
Tied with her at the end of the first day was Rachel Watts (Newport, Tenn.) with a 151 two-round total. She was one shot better in the early part of the day compared to her second-round performance. In the morning, the junior was three-over par with a trio of birdies and bogeys, adding on a double bogey for a round of 75, her lowest career round. While she did not card a double bogey in the second round, she did shoot six bogeys, five of those coming in the front nine of the course, on her way to a 76.
Sims and Watts both notched their career-best 36-hole scores.
Two strokes behind the pair was Taylor Hayes (Lake Ozark, Mo.) at nine-over through the first day. The senior started her day with a +6 round that featured six bogeys. She made a slight three-stroke improvement in the second round with a couple of birdies for a 75, giving her 153 total through 36 holes.
Allie Fletcher (Cummin, Ga.) carded two rounds of 77 to tie for 42nd at the end of Monday. The junior shot one birdie in each round, same for double bogeys, while shooting for birdie eight times. She was even for par on 24 holes.
Making her Carson-Newman, Maeve Cummins (Waringstown, Northern Ireland) was +21 on Monday, holding a share of 69th-place. She was 10-over in the first round with three double bogeys, five bogeys and a single birdie. The second round brought a similar result but a triple-bogey on the 10th pushed her to +11 in the round for a 165 total.
"Most of the other teams have played here before so we have done well to stay in the top 10," Strudwick mentioned. "Some excellent 'bounce back' holes by most of the team. I'm very pleased so far. We just have to finish well tomorrow."
Host team No. 1 UINDY leads the pack into Tuesday at one-over par with a 577. No. 3 Dallas Baptist University is second at 10 shots back with No. 24 Limestone at third with a 589 total through two rounds.
Tied at the top of the player leaderboard are Pilar Echeverria and Emma Kieffer from UINDY at six-under. Two shots behind them in third-place is Jacqueline Klemm at -4.
Closer to home, the women's B-team sits at second in the Bob Dibble Classic in Greeneville, Tenn. Three Eagles sit in the top five there.
The B-Team for #CNWG has wrapped up the first round of the Bob Dibble Classic in Greeneville, Tenn., sitting at second.
— C-N Athletics (@CNathletics) September 10, 2018
T1 - @reagankinnie (E)
T4 - @annadavenport23 (+3)
T4 - @katie_medley_98 *
6 - Olivia Williams (+4)
T11 - Elly Carlson (+7)
T11 - @Mfrovenholt
The final day of the UINDY Invitational will consist of a single round of play. That will begin with a shotgun start at 9:30 a.m. EDT. Live scoring will be available through Golfstat.