HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Despite shooting seven shots higher than where it went into the clubhouse after the first round, Carson-Newman notched a second-place finish at the Battle at Hilton Head from the Palmetto Dunes Resort on Tuesday.
The Eagles finished just two shots shy of No. 14/16 Lee but bested other ranked sides in the field by at least 10 strokes. They went 19-over in the second round with a 307, the second-lowest round of any team on the day. The only other team to score better was No. 24 Mount Olive with a 306.
"This was a good first tournament for us to start the spring season," Carson-Newman coach Suzanne Strudwick said. "Really difficult conditions pushed all scores higher today. Rain overnight made the course longer, but the win was the main culprit. We stayed competitive with several top-20 teams like Lee and Lenoir-Rhyne."
For par-4 shooting in the event, C-N was the top team with a 4.31 average while tying for second-best on par-5 scoring with a 5.20 clip. Its 19 birdies were the third-most in the field.
Carson-Newman's three-spot leap from the first to second round was highlighted by Ellie Haughton (Lincolnshire, England) and Maeve Cummins (Waringstown, Northern Ireland) both shooting lower on Tuesday. Of the two, Cummins had the most substantial improvement, shooting 12 shots higher to be even in the final round.
Matilda Frövenholt (Öjersjö, Sweden) remained as the top Eagle through the second round to tie for 13th at eight-over. The junior was seven-over on Tuesday with seven holes of bogey or higher on two birdies.
Rachel Watts (Newport, Tenn.) and individual Olivia Williams (Cleveland, Tenn.) stayed side-by-side in the leaderboard for a second-straight round as both carded a 79 in the second round to hold a share of 20th. The pair found just one birdie each in the round.
As for Williams, her 153 is a new career-best 36 hole score, besting her previous of 157 at the Bob Dibble Classic in September 2018.
The remaining three Eagles -- Maeve Cummins (Waringstown, Northern Ireland), Ellie Haughton (Lincolnshire, England) and Jayla Sims (Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.) – all landed in a tie for 33rd at 12-over par.
Of the three, Cummins had the most substantial move into the tie with a team-high five birdies in the round, marking the most of any player in the field for the round. The sophomore was four-under through the front nine of the course. In the final round, she tied for the best par-4 scoring average with a one-under 3.90.
"It was an excellent comeback by Maeve," Strudwick said. "That was her lowest collegiate nine holes on the front side with a 32."
Haughton's two-shot improvement came despite finding a five-hole stretch of bogeys and double-bogeys late in the course. She closed the day with a birdie on the par-5 3rd hole.
Sims shot the highest round among all C-N players on the day with an 82. The junior's single birdie was overshadowed by a pair of double-bogeys and a triple-bogey on the par-3 17th.
Carson-Newman kept a four-shot lead on Catawba through the final round to take second.
A three-way tie for first topped the player leaderboard with Missouri-St. Louis' Tove Rosengren, Catawba's Sarah Coltrane and LR's Ainee O'Connor all going three-over on the week with a 147.
The Eagles head back to the Hilton Head area in just a matter of days to play in the Wingate Low Country Invitational. That two-day event is set to begin on Monday from the Crescent Pointe Golf Club in Bluffton, S.C.
|
Carson-Newman |
300 |
307 |
607 |
+31 |
2nd |
|
73 |
79 |
152 |
+8 |
T-13th |
|
|
74 |
79 |
153 |
+9 |
T-20th |
|
|
74 |
79 |
153 |
+9 |
T-20th |
|
|
74 |
82 |
156 |
+12 |
T-33rd |
|
|
79 |
77 |
156 |
+12 |
T-33rd |
|
|
84 |
72 |
156 |
+12 |
T-33rd |
