Season-low round elevates No. 24 Eagles to fourth-place finish at SAC Championship

VIDEO: Suzanne Strudwick Interview

VIDEO: Sights and Sounds

Final Results

TAZEWELL, Tenn. – A season-low single round 299 pushed No. 24 Carson-Newman up one spot to finish in fourth at the South Atlantic Conference Championship at the Woodlake Golf Club in Tazewell, Tenn.

That 299 marks a new low for C-N at the event, besting the previous score that was set in 2019 with a 303. It finished this week at 70-over with a 934 total, just nine shots out of the top three. The group was the second-best par-3 scoring group throughout the event with a 3.22 clip.

"I think (the whole team) needs to see what is in our conference now," Carson-Newman coach Suzanne Strudwick said. "The likes of Limestone who won this event pretty convincingly, they're a top-5 nationally-ranked team. We're a top 25 national team, but there's still a big gap. What I want to do, and what my talk with them tomorrow is going to be, hey, we've got to close about 25 shots and they've got to come from you guys, so what are you going to do this summer, what are you going to do to get better every day to close that gap."

Maeve Cummins (Waringstown, Northern Ireland) and Matilda Frövenholt (Öjersjö, Sweden) closed out as the highest Eagles on the leaderboard, tied for 11th at 15-over, carding a 231 for the week.

Cummins had the lowest-round of the day with a one-under 71, notching the new lowest single-round score for C-N this entire season. The junior fired the most birdies for the Orange and Blue in the round with five, adding on four bogeys. Her 231 is the lowest 54-hole score of her 2021 campaign

 "She's never had five birdies on American soil before, so that's a first for her," Strudwick said. "This year has been very disappointing for her. Coronavirus really hit her; she didn't play at all when she got home this past summer. They couldn't play. They physically could not get to a golf course, so she came into the fall semester really rusty. We didn't play, but she's a competitive person and what's that competitiveness in how she plays, to play in tournaments and we just didn't have that. When we came into the spring, she put a ton of pressure on herself to perform and it was just too much. So, I'm so thankful for her that she was able to put it all together this week, especially this round."

 Frövenholt closed her week with an even 72, marking a new season-low for herself. The senior tallied four birdies including a chip-in on the par-4 7th hole to help her get to 1-under heading into the turn.

Hannah Holland (Sale Creek, Tenn.) made a four-shot improvement in her final round compared to the second, scoring a five-over 77 to tie for 21st. She went for birdie once on the day, adding on four bogeys and a double bogey. Three of her bogeys came on par-4 holes.

Alice Thomas (Mid Glamorgan, Wales) was 11-over on the day to finish with a share of 31st. The freshman carded an 83 with 10 holes that were over par with a birdie on the par-4 10th.

Ellie Haughton (Lincolnshire, England) shot a 79 in the final round on 13 par holes. The remaining five saw her go for bogey four times with one triple-bogey.

No. 3/3 Limestone won the event by a large 24-stroke margin with a 37-over 901. No. 20/19 Wingate and No. 7/6 Anderson tied for second at 61-over.

Wingate's Hailey McLaughlin held on to win the top medalist crown with a 1-over 217. Limestone's Ebba Hellman was the runner-up at 2-over with a four-way tie for third trailing the leading par at 11-over.

The Eagles now wait to see what their NCAA South Regional fate will be. Selections for each regional are set to be announced on April 26. Be sure to check back to cneagles.com and keep up with @CNAthletics on Twitter for the latest news and notes surrounding the women's golf program.

 

Carson-Newman 

323 

312

299

934

+70

4th

Matilda Frövenholt

82

77

72

231

+15

T-11th

Maeve Cummins 

82

78

71

231

+15

T-11th

Hannah Holland

80

81

77

238

+22

T-21st

Alice Thomas

79

81

83

243

+27

T-31st

Ellie Haughton

DQ

76

79

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DQ