CARMEL, Ind. – In the first tournament of the 2018-19 season, the women's golf team fell two spots down the leaderboard in the final round of play to take a ninth-place finish at the UINDY Invitational on Tuesday.
Carson-Newman as a unit carded a 309 in the final round for a 918 total, putting it to +54. The entire team was on par for 163 whole with 20 birdies.
"The team did OK for the first time out and we saw lots of room for improvement," head coach Suzanne Strudwick said. "The course was playing longer due to the wet conditinos so we faced some difficulty there. Overall, a good first outing."
Junior Rachel Watts (Newport, Tenn.) was the top Eagle in the event in a tie for 20th at +8. The final round was her best of the event at one-over with a 73, her lowest career round score. She carded a trio of birdies in the round with a pair of bogeys and a double bogey. Her 224 total marks her best 54-hole score in her career. She tied for 13th in the even in terms of birdies with eight total.
Jayla Sims (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) was one shot better in the third round compared to the second with a 78, pushing her to 13-over at a tie for 34th, 13 spots lower than where she was at the end of Monday. She was six-over on the day, splitting up the course with a +3 outing on each set of nine holes. Her five bogeys on the day were her highest of the tournament. She bested her previous 54-hole low score by 11 strokes thanks to her 229 score.
The third round was the highest for Taylor Hayes (Lake Ozark, Mo.) who was three strokes behind Sims at the end of the Tuesday. The senior carded a 79 in the third round for a +16 total that moved her down 10 spots on the leaderboard to a tie for 45th.
Allie Fletcher (Cummin, Ga.) also faced a substantial fall on Tuesday, finishing in a tie for 58th. After shooting back-to-back 77s on the opening day, she was +11 in the final round with three double bogeys. She closed the event with a final round of 83, pushing her total score to 237.
Seven shots behind the junior was Maeve Cummins (Waringstown, Northern Ireland), closing out her debut event with Carson-Newman at 66th, moving up three spots from where she ended at on Monday. She shot her best round on Tuesday with a +7 outing of 79 with five bogeys and a double bogey.
Host team UINDY stayed in first by the end of the tournament to win the event. The No. 1 Greyhounds were right on par at 864 through three rounds. No. 3 Dallas Baptist took second at 12-under while Findlay and No. 21 Arkansas Tech tied for third.
UINDY's Pilar Echeverria won the event at seven-under par. Just three shots behind her with a total of 212 was DBU's Hanna Harrison. Third place in the field saw a tie between UINDY's Emma Kieffer and Kennedy Holtsclaw. They both were three-under at 213.
Those four were the only individuals to card final scores under par.
The Eagles will enjoy a week away from competition before heading to nearby Bristol, Tenn. to defend their King Invitational crown. That two-day event will begin on Sept. 24 at the Country Club of Bristol.
UINDY Invitational
Prairie View Golf Club – Carmel, Ind.
Par 72 – 6,190 yards
Sept. 10-11, 2018
|
Carson-Newman |
302 |
307 |
309 |
918 |
+54 |
9th |
|
75 |
76 |
73 |
224 |
+8 |
T-20th |
|
|
72 |
79 |
78 |
229 |
+13 |
T-34th |
|
|
78 |
75 |
79 |
232 |
+16 |
T-45th |
|
|
77 |
77 |
83 |
237 |
+21 |
T-58th |
|
|
82 |
83 |
79 |
244 |
+28 |
66th |