VIDEO: Suzanne Strudwick Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The midway point of No. 21 Carson-Newman's spring slate takes the team just 25 miles away to their home course this week for the Eighth Annual Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate at the Highlands Course of the Sevierville Golf Club.
The Eagles have been away from tournament action for a week since their fifth-place finish at the Low Tide Intercollegiate on March 2. They were 68-over through the three rounds of play with a 932 total. Matilda Frövenholt (Öjersjö, Sweden) led the way with a share of 12th at 13-over.
This year is the first since the 2018-19 season that the team has started off the spring with back-to-back top-five finishes, opening that slate with a tie for second and a third-place showing.
"I felt the team were OK, but they were a little flat, I have to be honest," Carson-Newman coach Suzanne Strudwick said. "They took some of the issues from the first week, even though we won, we still saw some areas where we could improve and I didn't see that improvement the following week, in fact, it was compounded. You know, we needed to finish in the top three. We finished fifth.
"We did separate ourselves; the top-five teams separated from the rest of the field, but it was disappointing to finish fifth, So, I'm hoping that with a week off, a little bit more clarity in what I'm expecting out of the team."
This week marks the fifth time Strudwick's team has played at Tennessee Tech's event. Last year's appearance was cancelled just days ahead of the first round due to COVID-19.
Carson-Newman has seen a pair of top-five finishes at the Intercollegiate, both being fourth-place showings in 2019 and 2017. The most recent outing was highlighted by top-20 performances from Maeve Cummins (Waringstown, Northern Ireland) and Regan Kinnie, finishing at 12th and tied for 13th, respectively. In the final round that year, C-N fired its best round in any appearance with a 301. As a whole, the unit's 916 that year is tied for the event's eighth-best 54-hole.
In 2017, Elizabeth England anchored the Orange and Blue with top medalist honors at 6-over with a 219 total. She's still the only Eagle to win the event. Beyond that, her 219 is tied for the seventh-lowest 54-hole score in the event's history.
Cummins leads the C-N lineup for a second-straight event after finishing in 22nd at the Low Tide. The junior leads the team in scoring average through two events played, shooting a 77.6 clip.
Ellie Haughton (Lincolnshire, England) is the second seed at Sevierville, her highest starting spot since being No. 1 in the lineup at the season-opener at Hilton Head where she finished at 20th.
Alice Thomas (Mid Glamorgan, Wales) moves up to the three-spot this week after a 20-over outing in her Orange and Blue debut at the Low Tide. She tied for 28th in that event.
Seniors Jayla Sims (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) and Olivia Williams (Cleveland, Tenn.) round out the starting lineup as the fourth and fifth-seeds, respectively. Like Cummins, Sims was also a part of the C-N team that last appeared at the BNI in 2019. She tied for 32nd that year with a 24-over total of 237. For Williams, this is her first appearance at the event. Her last outing on the links came in the season-opener where she landed at 22nd with an 18-over 162.
Strudwick's team will be among a 13-team field that consists of mostly Division I teams. Just two other teams hail from the Division II ranks – Tusculum and No. 7 Findlay. The only top-three team to return from the last Intercollegiate is Eastern Kentucky who finished in third.
"Because of the quality of the field this week, a top five, I would be very satisfied with," Strudwick said. "I think I'm looking more at the scores though as opposed to placing, and so, you know, we are going to get some weather, so my adjustments will be made, but it's more on the scoring that I'm going to be looking at."
The three-day tournament begins on Sunday at 8:30 a.m. with a shotgun start. Each day will feature a single round of action. Live scoring will be available through Golfstat.
