VIDEO: Suzanne Strudwick Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The spring slate starts up a tad later than usual for Carson-Newman as it traverses this week to the Battle at Hilton Head at the Palmetto Dunes' Robert Trent Jones Oceanfront Golf Course in Hilton Head, S.C.
"I think they're ready to go," Carson-Newman coach Suzanne Strudwick said. "We did this on purpose to wait a little bit. I think most teams started last week, maybe the week before, and, from experience, that's just a little too early for us. The weather here, as we all know, can be, you know, up and down and so with all of this rain, our practice and preparation has been a little bit intermittent. I'm thankful for the extra week, but we're certainly ready to go."
Strudwick's group heads into the second half of the 2019-20 campaign looking to bounce back from a 13th place finish at the Flagler Fall Slam to close out the fall. So far this season, the Eagles have collected three top five finishes, including a second place showing at the Women's Music City Invitational in October.
This is the second straight season that C-N is making the trip to Hilton Head for the two-day event that is hosted by Barton. Last year, the Eagles' third place finish was highlighted by an All-Tournament showing for Maeve Cummins (Waringstown, Northern Ireland), tying for fifth at five-over.
"We had a qualifying round last week where it was extremely windy – it was dry but it was windy – and I told the girls, 'Look, this is what it's going to be like because that's what we experienced down there,'" Strudwick said. "It's springtime at Hilton Head, you get a lot of wind. Just having that local sort of knowledge that it gets dry and windy helps."
C-N ended up 20 shots out of first in last year's inaugural event that was won by Florida Tech. Anderson took second, sitting seven shots ahead of the Eagles.
Cummins once again leads the charge for C-N into Hilton Head after making her No. 1 spot debut in the event last season. This year, the sophomore leads the team with a 74.7 scoring average through five events.
Playing at the No. 2 seed for C-N will be Ellie Haughton (Lincolnshire, England). This is her third appearance in the starting lineup for the Orange and Blue this season but her highest seeding position, playing as the fifth-seed in her previous two events. Through three events including an individual appearance at the Flagler Fall Slam, the freshman is averaging a 77.0 score with her lowest single round score of 74 coming in the first round at Flagler.
Jayla Sims (Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.) holds the No. 3 spot this week. The junior landed in the top 20 in three of the four events she played in during the fall with her best showing coming in the form of a tie for 12th at the Winthrop Fall Invitational where she went six over. Like Haughton, she also holds a 77.0 scoring average on the year.
Rachel Watts (Newport, Tenn.) and Matilda Frövenholt (Öjersjö, Sweden) return to the Battle at Hilton Head field, rounding out the starting lineup at the No. 4 and No. 5 seed, respectively. This will be Watts' sixth-straight start in the 2019-20 campaign, averaging a 76.6 score while just the fourth for Frövenholt who is at a 77.2 average through 11 rounds of play.
Both Eagles were in the top 30 of last year's field with Frövenholt tying for 21st with a 156 (+12) through two rounds and Watts just one shot behind her in a tie for 26th.
Olivia Williams (Cleveland, Tenn.) heads to the event as C-N's individual, marking her third individual appearance on the season. The junior sits at an 80.8 scoring clip through five rounds. Her last outing resulted in a 44th-place showing at the Winthrop Fall Invitational with a 36-hole score of 160 (+16).
The 17-team field this week boasts a strong South Regional field that contains five nationally-ranked, three of those currently sitting in the top 25 of both the Golfstat and Women's Golf Coaches Association polls. Those sides include No. 12/14 Simon Fraser, No. 14/16 Lee and No. 21/20 Lenoir-Rhyne. Limestone and Mount Olive are currently No. 15 and No. 24 in the Golfstat rankings, respectively.
The 36-hole tournament begins Monday morning with live scoring updates coming through BirdieFire throughout the rounds. A full recap with results can be found at cneagles.com each day.
