HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. - The no. 18/20 Carson-Newman women's golf team sits in second place after the first day of the Battle at Hilton Head event in South Carolina.
The Eagles led by as many as six strokes and sat in first place through twelve holes, but a strong surge by conference rival Wingate allowed the Bulldogs to surpass Carson-Newman on day one. Carson-Newman shot 16-over on the day for a total score of 304. Wingate sits in first after shooting 12-over for a total score of 300.
As a team, the Eagles recorded nine birdies, second most on the day behind UNC-Pembroke. Carson-Newman recorded the third most pars on the day, tallying 52 par holes.
"The girls battled hard today on the course," says Associate Head Women's Golf Coach Kelsey Hutson. "We left a couple shots out there but I am really proud of how Aynslegih Martin performed in her first of many college rounds. Maeve and Ellie had very solid rounds to set us up for success tomorrow."
Maeve Cummins (Waringstown, Northern Ireland) leads the team individually, ending the day at second place overall at one-over shooting a 73, right at her season average. The senior recorded 13 pars in the first round and had the second best average score on par-fours during the first round, shooting an even 4.00. Cummins shot one-under on the front-nine, but a trio of bogeys at holes 16-18 moved her to second.
Ellie Haughton (Lincolnshire, England) is tied for fourth with Raquel Flores of Rogers State and Samantha DeBusk of UNC-Pembroke at three-over with a 75. Haughton also recorded 13 pars in the first round and recorded a birdie on the par-three fifth hole.
In her first round of the 2021-22 season, Aynsleigh Martin (Knoxville, Tenn.) finished the day at five-over and tied for 12th with Lydia Sitorus of Rogers State and Linn Anderson of Mount Olive with a score of 77. The score is four strokes better than her previous best score of 81 recorded at the 2021 Agnes McAmis Memorial. Martin finished the round tied for the fifth best score on par-fours, average one-over and a score of 4.10 on those holes.
Hannah Holland (Sale Creek, Tenn.) sits tied for 24th with Emily Felix of Lee and Beatriz Espelosin of Lenoir-Rhyne after carding a seven-over score of 79 on day one in the Lowcountry. Holland carded birdies on the par-four first hole and the par-five fourth hole.
Freshman Caroline Nemes (Orlando, Fla.) made her spring debut with the Eagles, carding a 10-over 82 and sits tied for 40th with ten other golfers. Nemes birdied two par-five holes in the first round, the only Eagle to do so. Nemes finished the first round with the fifth best score on par five holes, finishing even with an average score of 5.00.
Haley McLaughlin of Wingate sits in first after day one after shooting a two-under 70 score.
Carson-Newman will look to improve their standing and defend their 2021 event championship on day two of the Battle at Hilton Head tomorrow, Feb. 22. The final round begins with a shotgun start at 9:00 am. Fans can follow along with live stat updates available here.
