SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. – Despite shooting eight shots higher than in its opening round, No. 21/25 Carson-Newman moved up one spot into a tie for sixth at 60-over through 36 holes of the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate at the Sevierville Golf Club.
The Eagles were 34-over on Monday with a 318, giving them a 628 total with 18 holes still left to play. They shot for bogey or higher on 44 holes, 11 more than they carded in the first round, with six birdies.
Freshman Alice Thomas (Mid Glamorgan, Wales) was the only Eagle to improve their score in the second round, shaving six shots off of her 86 from the day before.
"Very difficult day at Sevierville today," Carson-Newman coach Suzanne Strudwick said. "Pin locations can have big impacts on scoring, today was definitely one of those days. We had difficulty all day; lots of lip outs and speed issues. Probably one of the highest team 3-putt rounds in a while. My hope for the second round was to be more committed to our shots and settle down to the familiar surroundings. Unfortunately, the severity of the pin locations continued to make the round seem really stressful.
"I loved the fight from Alice Thomas today. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's round and seeing if we can move into the top-five. I know we can do that if we just play our golf."
Ellie Haughton (Lincolnshire, England) and Maeve Cummins (Waringstown, Northern Ireland) are the highest Eagles in the field through 36 holes, sitting in a tie for 15th at 13-over with a total of 155.
Haughton was just one-shot higher in Monday's round compared to her event debut, going 7-over on the day. She was 5-over through the front nine on five bogeys. In the afternoon, the sophomore was 2-over on a birdie with a bogey and a double-bogey.
An 8-over second round gave Cummins a 79 for Monday's round, adding three strokes to her first-round score. The junior saw two fewer birdies in the second round, carding a single one on the par-3 13th-hole, with seven bogeys tacked on.
Jayla Sims (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) stayed in a tie for 33rd on Monday, shooting a 10-over 81 to push her total to 160, 18-over-par. The senior carded an additional bogey and double-bogey in the round compared to Sunday with seven and two, respectively, but she did fire her first birdie of the week on the par-5 14th.
Thomas, the team's lone-freshman for the event, made an 11-spot jump up from her tie for 58th on Sunday thanks to a 9-over second round of 80 to move into a tie for 47th. After shooting for double-bogey and higher on four holes in the first round, she shot a single double-bogey but added eight bogeys to that total. Like Sims, she notched her first birdie of the event on the 14th-hole.
Olivia Williams (Cleveland, Tenn.) had the highest round score for the Orange and Blue, penciling in a 90 on her scorecard, moving her to 26-over for the event with a share of 53rd on a 168 total. The senior came out of the gate with a triple-bogey on the par-5 that she followed up with three bogeys in the next four holes. All-told for the round, she shot for double-bogey and higher on five holes, three of those being triple-bogey and above. She was the only Eagle in the round to fire multiple birdies, grabbing two.
At the top of the leaderboard for a second-straight round is Eastern Kentucky at 24-over, going 297-295 through 36 holes for a 592 total. The Colonels hold a 17-shot lead over the rest of the pack with Western Carolina in second at 41-over. No. 7/6 Findlay is third at 43-over.
Eastern Kentucky's Ragga Kristinsdottir is stand-alone first after 36 rounds of play with an even 142. Western Carolina's Victoria Ladd trails by one-shot with a 143 while Fristinsdottir's teammate Diana McDonals sits at third at 3-over.
The Intercollegiate wraps up on Tuesday with a final round of action from the Highlands Course. C-N is set to hit the links starting at 10:40 a.m. Fans can once again follow along with live scoring via Golfstat.
