TAZEWELL, Tenn. – With Maeve Cummins (Waringstown, Northern Ireland) holding a share of the lead through the first 18 holes of play on a round of 70, No. 25 Carson-Newman sits in third through Monday's first day of the State Farm Intercollegiate at the Woodlake Golf Club.
"We fought back after a tough start," Carson-Newman coach Suzanne Strudwick said. "Putting was an issue but after some practice, we're hoping to close the gap between us, Lenoir-Rhyne and Wingate.
"Maeve played great today, and the girls are ready to play great tomorrow. It was a long day but the girls finished better."
The sophomore's two-under day powered the Eagles to go 18-over in the first round. As a team, C-N was the second-best par-4 and par-4 scoring team at 10-over and 5-over, respectively. It also carded the second-most birdies in the round with nine.
Her 70 in the rounds marks the lowest single round score Cummins has carded in her career. She was one-under through the front nine to start the day. Cummins ended up tying for the best outing on par-3s through the day at one-under while sitting at second for par-4 scoring at one under. She fired for par 14 times in the round with three birdies.
Cummins is one of two Eagles in the top-five of the field, the other being individual Matilda Frövenholt (Öjersjö, Sweden) who is tied for fifth at one-over. The junior went through the first round with a 73, also marking her lowest single round score in her time with the Orange and Blue. Three of her four bogeys came exclusively on par-4 holes.
Sitting alone in 17th is Jayla Sims (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) after a five-over round of 77. She carded just one birdie through the day with four bogeys and a double-bogey on the par-3 sixth hole.
Two shots behind her was Rachel Watts (Newport, Tenn.). The senior tied for 20th after the round on a seven-over day. She carded a team-high eight bogeys on the day en route to her 79. Three of her last five holes in the round resulted in birdies, her lone ones of the day.
One shot behind her in a tie for 25th are Elly Carlson (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Ellie Haughton (Lincolnshire, England) at eight-over with an 80 in the round.
Carlson, playing as an individual, opened her day with two bogeys in three of her first holes in the round. She carded a triple-bogey on the par-4 ninth hole for a five-over standing at the turn. In the back nine, she brought in three more bogeys.
Haughton, like Watts, also shot eight bogeys in the round with six coming in the back-nine alone. She was two-over heading into the turn before that stretch of bogeys elevated her score.
Rounding out the Eagles on the leaderboard is Reagan Kinnie (Murfreesboro, Tenn.), tied for 27th. She started off her nine-over day with a four-over outing in the front nine on three bogeys, a double-bogey and just one birdie. She closed out her day with three more bogeys, a triple-bogey on the par-3 13th and a birdie.
Tied at the top of the field with Cummins is No. 24 Wingate's Sam Fritzinger. The two are closely followed by Ainee O'Connor in third at one-under.
Overall, Lenoir-Rhyne leads the pack at four-over while Wingate is one shot behind at five-over. The Eagles hold an eight-shot lead on host team Lincoln Memorial who is fourth at 26-over.
The tournament finishes up on Tuesday with one final round. C-N will begin teeing off at 9:42 a.m. with Elly Carlson hitting the links first. Live scoring will once again be provided by the LMU staff with a recap and results to follow on cneagles.com.
