OLD HICKORY, Tenn. – With two participants in the top-20 of the field including Reagan Kinnie in a tie for fourth, No. 25 Carson-Newman sits at fourth-place after the first day of the Music City Invitational at the Old Hickory Country Club.
The Eagles were 17-over in the first round of the event with a 305 total.
"I'm pleased with our position so far, but we left a lot of loose shots and putts on the closing holes so I'm definitely looking for a better job tomorrow of finishing the rounds off well," coach Suzanne Strudwick said. "We dropped eight shots combined in the closing four holes. We should be tied for the lead, but we talked about that after the round and I see a determination of doing a much better job tomorrow."
C-N's fifth-seed Reagan Kinnie (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) shot even through the first 18 holes for a score of 72, landing her a spot near the top of the leaderboard. She heads into the final round just two shots out of first. The junior tied for the best par 3 scoring with a three-under average score of 2.25. Her six birdies on the day were the best of the entire field.
Her 72 is her best opening round score of her career with the main team and is her second-lowest score overall.
Five shots behind her was Rachel Watts (Newport, Tenn.) in a tie for 16th. The fourth-seed shot a 77 on Monday. She tied for the best par 4 scorer in the field on Monday at two-under on such holes.
Jayla Sims (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.), the top-seeded player for Carson-Newman, closed Monday in a tie for 24th after shooting six-over for an opening round score of 78. She shot even on 11 holes through the first day of play.
Also holding a share of 24th with Sims is the No. 2 seed Maeve Cummins (Waringstown, Northern Ireland). Her opening round 78 was highlighted by 13 par shots, tying her for second-most in the first day.
Anna Davenport (Roswell, Ga.), replacing Taylor Hayes (Lake Ozark, Mo.) in the team lineup, tied for 48th by the end of Monday at 10-over. She carded an 82 on the day.
Individual Elly Carlson (Colorado Springs, Colo.) tied for 56th in the first round, one shot behind Davenport. The sophomore was 11-over on Monday.
No. 7 Grand Valley State leads the way through the first round at nine-over. No. 1 UIndy sits in second at 13-over while Tiffin is third at 16-over.
UIndy's Pilar Echeverria leads the field after the first round at two-under. One shot behind her in a tie for second are Trevecca's Rachael McMahan and Tiffin's Alice Putoud.
The Invitational wraps up on Tuesday with one final round of play. A full recap and results of the event will follow the completion of the event.