SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. - After teeing off 28 hours later than originally scheduled, the Carson-Newman women's golf team sits in second place after day one of the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate.
The no. 16/22 Eagles finished the first round four strokes off the lead at 14-over with a team score of 298. Carson-Newman is currently ahead of Division-I programs North Alabama, Radford, Murray State, Indiana State, Bellarmine, both Tennessee Tech teams, and Northern Kentucky, along with SAC rival Tusculum. No. 6 Findlay sits in first place with a ten-over 294 day one score.
"Strong first round for Ellie and Hannah," says Associate Director of Women's Golf Kelsey Hutson. "Both made great shots that helped us finish in 2nd. The girls know where we can improve and give us a strong finish for tomorrow"
As a team, Carson-Newman finished the opening round with the best scores on par four holes, shooting a score of seven-over and an average score of 4.20. The Eagles also had the second-best score on par threes, shooting 11-over on the shortest holes at the Sevierville Golf Club River Course and an average score of 3.37. On the longest holes on the course, the Eagles had the third best scores on par fives, shooting four-over with and average score of 5.16.
Carson-Newman shot the most pars on day one, finishing the day with 54. The convocation also recorded the second-most birdies, carding nine as a team after the first 18 holes. Ellie Haughton recorded three of them in her first round.
Haughton sits alone at first place individually, shooting a 71 even-par score in the first round. Haughton sat at two-under after the front nine, but a trio of bogeys to just one birdie on the back nine dropped the Lincolnshire, England native back to even-par. The sophomore recorded 12 pars and finished tied with Payton Carter of Murray State for the best scores on par fours, finishing at one-under and an average score of 3.86. The 71 is a new career-low round score for Haughton.
Also inside the top-10 is fellow Eagle Hannah Holland. Holland sits in a tie for sixth with a two-over 73. The Sale Creek, Tenn. native finished tied for the second-best score on par fives at two-under and an average score of 4.60. Holland also finished the first round with the third best score on par threes, shooting a one-over and an average score of 3.17. Holland, along with teammate Ana Herrera, carded a pair of birdies in the first 18 holes.
Freshman Caroline Nemes sits tied for sixteenth with a five-over 76 round one score. Nemes finished the first round with the seventh-best score on par fours with a one-over and an average score of 4.14. She finished the first round with 11 pars.
Maeve Cummins sits tied for 29th with a seven-over score of 78, rounding out the scoring for the Eagles. Cummins joins Nemes with 11 pars on the day.
In her first action since the 2021 Savannah Lakes Invite, Herrrera sits tied for 36th with an eight-over score of 79. Despite a pair of double bogeys, the Merida, Mexico native carded a pair of birdies in the opening round.
Individually, Ashley Holland sits tied for 23rd with a six-over 77, the second best score of individual players. The younger Holland sister's 77 is the best round of her young career. She joined her sister Hannah in carding 12 pars in the first round.
Aynsleigh Martin sits tied for 57th with a first-round score of a 13-over 84. Despite the high score, Martin did well on par fives, shooting one-over with an average score of 5.20.
Haughton will look to lock up the individual championship while her teammates will try to move up the leaderboard in the final round of the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate tomorrow, Mar. 15. The final round begins bright and early at 8:30 AM with a shotgun start. Fans can follow along with live stats here and with updates from the course on twitter at @cn_eagles.
