LOUDON, Tenn. – Despite a front-nine showing that saw two Eagles shoot under par, the second half of the course brought struggles as No. 18 Carson-Newman sits in a tie for ninth-place after the first day of the Tennessee River Rumble on Tuesday at the Tennessee National Golf Club.
As a team, the Eagles shot 12 birdies on the day, nine of those coming in the first round of play. They had the third-most birdies in the field. Bogeys were aplenty for C-N as the Orange and Blue racked up 28 on Tuesday.
C-N was the third-best team in terms of Par 4 shooting with a +17 average of 4.34. The group was +23 in the first round with a 311 total, the highest round total for C-N this season.
"Disappointing round today," head coach Randy Wylie said. "Maybe we were overconfident; somehow we did not have the right fight and attitude. I feel like that's on me."
Jake Headrick (Maryville, Tenn.) and Alex Hutson (Newport, Tenn.) tied for 11th in the first round with three-over scores of 75.
Headrick was one-over in the first round with a pair of birdies that overshadowed a back-to-back bogey-double bogey outing. In the latter half, the junior was one shot higher.
Hutson had one of the better front-nine performances for C-N with a trio of birdies and a pair of bogeys to sit at one-under early on. The back half of the course saw the junior shoot four bogeys.
Grant Bodie (Knoxville, Tenn.), participating as an individual is currently the next highest Eagle on the leaderboard at a tie for 33rd. The junior was one-over through the first nine holes with a birdie and double bogey before a back half that saw him shoot a bogey and two double bogeys for a +5 half, totaling for a +6 round of 78.
One stroke behind is Jackson Tyler (Wilmington, N.C.) with a first round score of 79 at a tie for 42nd. The freshman was the best Eagle through the front nine at two-under thanks to a trio of birdies and a bogey. The back half saw a stark contrast as he went nine-over with two bogeys, a double bogey and a +5 showing on the 15th hole.
Coming off of his first tournament win, Tom Forster (Oundle, England) sits at 10-over in a tie for 61st. His 82 in the first round marks his career-highest round score. He notched just one birdie in the entire first round with eight bogeys and a +3 showing on hole 14.
Will Hurt (Powell, Tenn.) and individual Tyler Parker (Knoxville, Tenn.) are +11 heading into the final day at a tie for at 66th.
Hurt was four-over in the first half of the course before a slight fall in the second half mostly due to a +4 showing on the next-to-last hole. He shot one birdie on the day.
Like Hurt, Parker also shot a single birdie on the day, coming in the first round along with six bogeys. In the back half, he recorded a double bogey that was followed by four-straight bogeys.
King is the top team through Tuesday with a +12 score of 300. Fellow South Atlantic Conference representative Wingate was 14-over to land at second while Brevard was one shot behind at third.
Hillsdale College's Liam Purslowe sits at the top of the leaderboard as the only one in the field to shoot under par on the first day with a one-under score of 71. Two strokes behind him is a six-way tie for second place.
"We have been a good bounce-back team all year," Wyllie mentioned. "We will see how we handle tomorrow."
The final round of the Tennessee River Rumble commences Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. Live scoring will be provided by the folks of LMU throughout the day.
