March 24, 2015

England, Baiunco lead Eagles on final day of Wingate Intercollegiate Challenge

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Carson-Newman women’s golf team dropped eight strokes off its first round score to shoot a 322 during the final round of the Wingate Intercollegiate Challenge for a ninth-place finish on Ole Sycamore Plantation in Charlotte, N.C.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Carson-Newman women's golf team dropped eight strokes off its first round score to shoot a 322 during the final round of the Wingate Intercollegiate Challenge for a ninth-place finish on Ole Sycamore Plantation in Charlotte, N.C.

Freshman Elizabeth England (Oakland, Tenn.) and senior Danielle Baiunco (Melbourne, Fla.) both carded the two lowest scores of the week as England shot a 77 and Baiunco played a round of 79 during Tuesday's round.

In total, three Eagles lowered their scores during the final round of the tournament.

"Much better today. We seemed to get more of an idea of the feel for the greens today. We've got good momentum going into Link Hills this coming weekend. Both Danielle and Elizabeth had good bounce back rounds," coach Suzanne Strudwick said.

England dropped five shots from Monday's round her 77 on Tuesday, which was her seventh-lowest round of the season. She had one of the best scores on par-4s as she finished four-over on par-4s over the course of 36 holes, which resulted in a 4.22 stroke average. The freshman also recorded the third most pars in the field as she carded 23. She finished the tournament at 15-over 159 tied for 15^th.

Baiunco tied for the best improvement from a Carson-Newman player during round two. The senior dropped seven shots for her second round 79. She tied her second round score from the Kiawah Island Intercollegiate for her sixth-best score of the season. She finished in 35th-place at 19-over 165.

Junior Kelli Pemberton (Knoxville, Tenn.) finished tied with Baiunco in 35th-place after shooting an 83 on Tuesday. She tied her performance at the Etowah Intercollegiate over 21-over for the second-best score of her junior campaign. The junior had the fourth-best par-5 scoring in the tournament as she finished one-over and averaged 5.10 strokes on the longest holes.

Junior Meridith Hawkins (Powell, Tenn.) shot a score of 85 during her final round. She finished in a tie for 47th-place with a 23-over 172.

Junior Rebekah Pruett (Niceville, Fla.) tied with Baiunco with the best improvement of the course of the tournament as she dropped her 90 from Monday to an 83 on Tuesday. Pruett's seven-shot improvement is her best of the season. She previously dropped four shots from her first round total at the Guy Harvey Invitational back in October.

Sophomore Jessica Hart (Roanoke, Va.) shot her second consecutive round of 87 during the second round for a tie for 62^nd.

Limestone won the tournament by 10 strokes over Converse and Newberry. Converse's Maddisen Cox won the event by two strokes.

The Eagles return to East Tennessee for next week's Agnes McAmis Memorial that will be played at Greeneville's Link Hills Country Club.

9 Carson-Newman 334 324 658 (+74)

T15 Elizabeth England 82 77 159 (+13)

T35 Kelli Pemberton 82 83 165 (+19)

T35 Danielle Baiunco 86 79 165 (+19)

T47 Meridith Hawkins 84 85 169 (+23)

T60 Rebekah Pruett 90 83 173 (+27)

T62 Jessica Hart 87 87 174 (+28)

-CN-