No. 21/25 Eagles land sixth at Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate
SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. – A six-shot improvement on Tuesday left No. 21/25 Carson-Newman one shot shy of a top-five finish, locking down sixth-place with an 86-over 938 total at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate.
VIDEO: Suzanne Strudwick Interview
SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. – A six-shot improvement on Tuesday left No. 21/25 Carson-Newman one shot shy of a top-five finish, locking down sixth-place with an 86-over 938 total at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate.
The Eagles were 27-over in the final round with 10 holes under par, including an eagle from Olivia Williams (Cleveland, Tenn.) on the par-5 15th. They were shot over par on 37 holes on Tuesday, three of those being triple-bogeys with seven double-bogeys.
Both Williams and Ellie Haughton (Lincolnshire, England) had career-best 54-hole outings on the week. Williams matched her lowest three-round score with a 244 while Haughton led the team with a 230.
"My goal going in was top-five and we missed that out by one-shot," Carson-Newman coach Suzanne Strudwick said. "I kinda feel a little bit like we gave that up because our putting and our short game was not good this week. The conditions were not good; it was very, very tough. I felt like we battled for the most part.
"We did get a lot of needless shots away, a lot of three-putts, lot of chips that, you know, double chip and having to chip again. Mostly that's just because of the conditions of the grass. There are definitely things know that we should have done better on and, moving forward, hopefully we will."
Haughton was the highest Eagle on the leaderboard, holding a share of 13th for a career-high finish. The sophomore was 4-over on Tuesday with her lowest round of the week at 75, also the best score for the Orange and Blue for the day. She was as low as 1-under halfway through the front nine thanks to a birdie on the par-5 3rd hole, but she carded a trio of bogeys and a double-bogey late. She was 17-over on the week.
Maeve Cummins (Waringstown, Northern Ireland) improved her previous round score by one stroke with a 78 on Tuesday, but she still slid into 18th. Her 7-over round started with a birdie on the first hole, not seeing another until the 10th. She finished with a 233.
Nine shots behind Cummins was Jayla Sims (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.), standing alone at 39th at 29-over. The senior had her highest round of the week with an 83. She carded two birdies in a single round for the first time this week but had those overshadowed by a pair of triple-bogeys on par-4 holes. Eight additional bogeys pushed her to 12-over for the day, giving her a 242 overall.
The biggest improvement of the day came from Williams who erased 14 shots off of her Monday score to net a 76 in the final round, giving her a 43rd-place finish. With six holes over par, including a triple-bogey on the par-4 12th that pushed her to 8-over after the turn, the senior didn't see a hole under par until her eagle. After that, she fired two more birdies to get to an even standing through the back nine of the round, leaving her at 5-over.
"Kudos for Olivia, she bounced back really, really well," Strudwick said. "She battled all day. She never gave up yesterday, and I praised her for it. I said that her attitude, everything, she never got mad at herself where she beat herself up, and that was very important."
In a tie for 49th, Alice Thomas (Mid Glamorgan, Wales) went 35-over for the week after an 11-over 82 in the final round. The freshman was 7-over through the front nine with a single birdie, two bogeys and a trio of double-bogeys. She was over par for four more holes in the back nine with one more birdie sandwiched between.
Eastern Kentucky took home both the team and individual medalist laurels on the week with the Colonels winning at 38-over and Ragga Kristinsdottir grabbing a 2-over victory. They led the rest of the team by 26 strokes with No. 7/6 Findlay in second at 64-over. Western Carolina landed at third with a 68-over 920.
Behind Kristinsdottir on the player list was Western Carolina's Victoria Ladd at 4-over. Tusculum's Jennifer Keim came in third at 9-over.
The Eagles are back in action in just a few days, heading down to Carrollton, Ga. For the Louise Suggs at Sunset Hills Country Club Invitational. The two-day event starts on Monday.
|
Carson-Newman |
310 |
317 |
311 |
938 |
+64 |
6th |
|
77 |
78 |
75 |
230 |
+17 |
T-13th |
|
|
76 |
79 |
78 |
233 |
+20 |
18th |
|
|
79 |
80 |
83 |
242 |
+29 |
39th |
|
|
78 |
90 |
76 |
244 |
+31 |
43rd |
|
|
86 |
80 |
82 |
248 |
++35 |
T-49th |
