Flagler Fall Slam brings Eagles to Jacksonville

VIDEO: Suzanne Strudwick Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn – After seeing bad weather cause the cancellation of their last event, the Carson-Newman women's golf team hits the links again, as they travel to Jacksonville, Fla. for the Flagler Fall Slam on Oct. 24-25.

"I'm pretty confident in what we can do," Women's Golf Coach Suzanne Strudwick said. "We're coming off a win. I know that was a few weeks ago. We've had a little bit of a break. I'm hoping with the practicing that we've been doing, we'll be able to keep up the momentum. We'll go in with some confidence."

It has been nearly a month since the team's last competition, following the cancellation of the third event on their schedule, the FAU Intercollegiate in Boca Raton, which was washed out by Hurricane Matthew.

The Eagles' last time out was in Bristol, Tennessee, where they won the King Intercollegiate by three strokes. The squad's victory was C-N's first since Coach Strudwick's team won the South Atlantic Conference title in 2014. Elizabeth England (Oakland, Tenn.) led the way, posting a score of one-over, including a final round 68 that was a career best and also tied a SAC record. The junior earned her third career victory and topped the rest of the field by four strokes.

Carson-Newman also benefitted from a great performance by freshman Reagan Kinnie(Murfreesboro, Tenn.) in Bristol. She captured second place by carding a five-over 147, 23 strokes better than the score she put up in her team's first event, the Rollins Invitational.

Joining her teammates in the top 10 at the King Intercollegiate was sophomore Taylor Hayes (Lake Ozark, Mo), who tied for 10^th with a 14-over 156. Hayes knocked four strokes off her day one total to rise six spots on the leaderboard and earn her sixth career top ten finish.

Allie Fletcher (Cumming, Ga.) qualified third for Carson-Newman and will be playing in her third event of the fall in Jacksonville. She finished tied for 19^th in Bristol. Senior Jessica Hart rounds out the group for coach Strudwick.

Freshman Rachel Watts (Newport, Tenn.) will also be competing in the tournament, but as an individual, meaning her stats will be official, but won't count towards the team score.

The Flagler Fall Slam will consist of two days of golf, with each student-athlete playing one round each day on the par 72 course. The Eagles will be one of 16 teams in a field that includes conference rivals Wingate, Tusculum and Queens (N.C.). Two ranked squads are also set to play in No. 11 Barry University and No. 21 Armstrong State.

You can find recaps of both days of competition on cneagles.com.

-CN-