HILTON HEAD, S.C. – Carson-Newman gained its best start to the spring in team history on Monday as it went into the clubhouse at the top of the leaderboard with Maeve Cummins (Waringstown, Northern Ireland) also sitting in first through the first round of the Battle at Hilton Head.
The Eagles have not landed at the top of the field to open tournament play in the spring before the +29 outing. C-N did start the 2014-15 spring slate with a win, but that was in a match play event against Newberry.
"Excellent start," Carson-Newman coach Suzanne Strudwick said. "I'm very pleased for the team to be in this position. Maeve had a tough start, but battled back for a great 75. The weather is chill and very windy, 20-30 mile per hour gusts. I believe we hung in there very well today. Tomorrow will bring in some additional challenges of holding a lead. We have talked about being challenged a lot recently, so this is a wonderful way to step up."
Strudwick's group distanced itself from the field by one shot through the first 18 holes, leading in par 5s and par shots on the day. It averaged a 1-over 5.05 on par-5 scoring with 51 holes for par. Three of the four Eagles in the lineup shot for birdie on the par-5 10th hole to open the back nine on Monday, making C-N the only team to have more than two players shoot under-par on a par-5 hole throughout the entire round.
After the first round in Hilton Head...#CNWG: 1️⃣@CumminsMaeve: 1️⃣
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) February 22, 2021
Not bad after a 335 day layoff �� pic.twitter.com/dORJoOwxqf
Similar to the entire team, Cummins leads the rest of the player board by a single shot, as well. She was 3-over in the opening round with a 75. She started the day with a triple-bogey on the second hole. She tacked on a trio of birdies and bogeys throughout the rest of the round. The junior was fundamental when it came to par-3 and par-5 holes, shooting under par on both. She tied for first among all players on both holes, averaging a one-under 2.75 clip for par-3s and a two-under 4.50 on par-5s. She also landed in a four-way tie for the most birdies in the round.
Two-shots behind Cummins is Jayla Sims (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.), sitting in a tie for fifth. The senior went 5-over in the opening round with a 77. She was 2-over heading into the turn with a pair of bogeys before opening the back nine with her lone birdie of the day. She tacked on four more bogeys in her final eight holes.
Sims tied for third on par-3 holes, averaging an even 3.00 score. She was also even on par-5 holes.
Sitting at the top-spot in C-N's starting lineup for the first time in her career, Ellie Haughton (Lincolnshire, England) went 10-over-par on Monday to hold a share of 25th. The sophomore was six-over through the front nine on four bogeys and a double-bogey on the par-3 eighth hole. She added on two more bogeys and a double bogey, all three coming within the last five holes to play.
Rounding out the leaderboard for C-N are Olivia Williams (Cleveland, Tenn.) and Hannah Holland (Sale Creek, Tenn.), sitting in a tie for 28th. The pair shot opening rounds of 83 on Monday to be 11-over par.
Williams went 6-over in front nine on a trifecta of double bogeys. She was one-shot better in the back nine where she bogeyed on three straight holes with a double bogey on the 18th.
As for Holland, she had the third-best showing in the front nine on the day for Carson-Newman, heading into the turn at three-over. She birdied the 10th hole to start the afternoon but followed that with four bogeys, a double bogey and a triple bogey before the end of the round.
C-N is one-shot ahead of Central Missouri and Tusculum who are tied for second with 318 totals through 18-holes.
A three-way tie for second sits behind Cummins heading into Tuesday's final round. Lenoir-Rhyne's Megan Robb, Tusculum's Jennifer Keim and Belmont Abbey's Jenna Nagy trail the junior by one shot, each with a first-round score of 76.
One more round remains in the battle, kicking off at 9 a.m. Tuesday with a shotgun start. Live scoring will be available through BirdieFire for fans to follow along with.
