Women’s golf sits just outside top five after day one of the SAC Championship
The Eagles shot 39-over as a team through the first two rounds, sitting just below Anderson for a spot in the top four and access to the final day’s medal match play.
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Eagles shot 39-over as a team through the first two rounds, sitting just below Anderson for a spot in the top four and access to the final day's medal match play.
It was nearly perfect golfing conditions for the first 36 at the South Atlantic Conference Tournament. Sunny skies and 80 degree weather set the field up for a beautiful day out on the well-kept Preserve at Verdae. The breeze kicked up slightly toward the tail end of the day, but otherwise, conditions couldn't have been better.
"We definitely had higher expectations for ourselves today, but this course is challenging and you can see that reflected in the field," said head coach Alyssa Montgomery. "However, we have some serious self-evaluation to do. We let this course beat us today. We have to find a way to be tougher out there when the bad things happen."
Grace Lambert was the first to take advantage of the wonderful weather in round one. The freshman started out strong with a birdie on the par-three second hole, and also birdied the par five ninth to go one-under on the front. She also made a birdie on the 10th. She was two under through 11 holes when she made bogey at the 12th and then doubled the par three 15th. She made two more pars and bogey on 18 to shoot 74 (+2) in round one and was tied for 8th.
Anaelle Picot was the next best for C-N. The third-team all-conference player made four bogeys on the front nine and found her first birdie of the par on the par-three 11th. She followed that with a bogey at the 12th. She the carded three straight pars before another birdie at the par-four 16th. She made double the hole following and parred the last to shoot 77 (+5) in round one. She was tied for 16th after the first 18.
Emery Fisher wasn't far behind. Fisher made birdie on the par-five 5th but bogeyed four straight from hole 7-10. She made four pars on the back coupled with a birdie at the par-four 17th for a first round 78 (+6).
Madison Miller rounded out the team score with a 78 (+6) as well. The freshman struggled to find consistency through the first five holes, alternating bogeys with a par and a birdie on the 4th. On hole six, Miller parred six straight before a triple at the par-four 12th. She made par on five of her last six to end the round/
Rylee Tucker was also struggling with consistency in round one, going par, bogey, par, bogey through the first nine holes. She made birdie on the par-five 5th, though, to help her out. Then she made birdie on the par-3 11th. She was the fourth eagle to make a score over par at the 12th, but parred four of her last six holes to shoot 81 (+9).
C-N was +19 as a team in round one and in 6th place after the first 18.
After a struggle in the first round, Rylee Tucker rebounded well in the second. The freshman parred seven holes on the front to come in at 39 (+3). Then, she made a bogey on the 10th, but four holes later, birdied the par-five 14th to even her score out on the back. She made four straight pars after that for a 75 (+3) in round two. She is +12 overall and 19th in the field of 54.
Miller bogeyed her first hole of the second 18, but made six pars with two more bogeys on the front to match Tucker with a 39 (+3). She bogeyed the 11th, but responded with a birdie at the par-four 13th. After a double on the 14th, Miller bogeyed the 16th. She ended the day strong with back-to-back birdies on the 17th and 18th holes for a second round 76 (+4). She is +10 through 36 holes and in 17th.
Grace Lambert struggled to find pars on the front nine, making five bogeys and four pars in the second round's front. She made three pars in a row from 10-12, and ended the streak with a bogey at the par-four 13th. She made four more pars in her last five holes for a second-round 79 (+7). With that score, Lambert is a total of nine over-par and 15th in the standings.
Anaelle Picot was consistent through 9 with six pars to go along with three bogeys at the 3rd, 7th, and 8th. However, she doubled the par-four 10th. Then she made three straight pars before another double at the 14th. She made three pars and birdie on the last to close out a round of 78 (+6). Picot is +11 through the first two rounds in total and 18th overall.
Emery Fisher doubled the par-three 2nd, but bounced right back with a birdie at the 3rd and three pars in a row. She made another double at the 7th to close out her front nine with a 40 (+4). Fisher made five pars on the back nine but couldn't find birdies to help herself for a second round 81 (+9). Fisher is +15 through 36 holes and 28th in the rankings.
"With a good round tomorrow, we are right back in this. I don't want to go home tomorrow, and I don't think this team does either," said Montgomery.
LMU leads the field at +7 while Wingate is in second at +19. Catawba rounds out the top three at +24, and Anderson is just above C-N at +33.
The Eagles will need to play well in the final stroke-play round if they want to make it to the final day of the tournament. The field will play 18 more holes tomorrow before all teams outside the top four are cut. Those four teams will then play match play on Tuesday.
Tee times tomorrow are from 8:00 AM to 8:50 AM. C-N will play with Anderson and Tusculum. Live scoring will be available on the Clippd website, and for updates, follow @CN_Eagles on X and Instagram, or Carson-Newman Athletics on Facebook. Full coverage is also available at cneagles.com.
