February 10, 2014

Hawkins notches top five finish at World Golf Invite

SLAMMER AND SQUIRE, Fla. – Carson-Newman women’s golf’s Meridith Hawkins (Powell, Tenn.) powered home the second par round of her sophomore campaign to take a fourth place finish at the World Golf Invitational Monday afternoon.

SLAMMER AND SQUIRE, Fla. – Carson-Newman women's golf's Meridith Hawkins (Powell, Tenn.) powered home the second par round of her sophomore campaign to take a fourth place finish at the World Golf Invitational Monday afternoon.

Hawkins fired a 72 {E), five strokes better than a round one 77.

Carson-Newman finished seventh as a team. Every other player saw their scores rise under tougher scoring conditions, according to head coach Suzanne Strudwick.

"The greens got hard and fast but we needed to make a better job of adjusting," Strudwick said. "Only Meridith was able to do that. We can do a much better job of finishing mentally when we are high up. We will continue to work hard and finish Eagle strong."

In spite of the higher team score for round two, the Eagles still finished in front of three nationally ranked teams.

Defending national champion Lynn took home first place with a tournament record 591. The Fighting Knights Jessica Bradley took home tournament champion honors after a tournament record 69 in her first round.

Danielle Baiunco (Melbourne, Fla.) and Kelli Pemberton (Knoxville, Tenn.) both finished tied for 32^nd for the Eagles after Baiunco shot an 85 (+13) and Pemberton an 82 (+10) in the second round. Mary Tunnell (Cordova, Tenn.) and Lauren Hodge (Jefferson City, Tenn.) each finished tied for 46^th after an 84 (+12) and 85 (+13), respectively.

The Eagles are off for nearly a month before hitting the links again at the Armstrong Pirate Invitational on March 3.

Carson-Newman 314 323 637 +61 7th

Meridith Hawkins 77 72 149 +5 t-4th

Danielle Baiunco 77 85 162 +18 t-32nd

Kelli Pemberton 80 82 162 +18 t-32nd

Lauren Hodge 80 85 165 +21 t-46th

Mary Tunnell 81 84 165 +21 t-46th