Battle at Hilton Head opens C-N's season
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After 335 days away from tournament action because of the global pandemic, Carson-Newman prepares to open the 2021 season with a trip to the Battle at Hilton Head on Monday and Tuesday at the Palmetto Dunes' Robert Trent Jones Oceanfront Course in Hilton Head Island, S.C.
VIDEO: Suzanne Strudwick Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After 335 days away from tournament action because of the global pandemic, Carson-Newman prepares to open the 2021 season with a trip to the Battle at Hilton Head on Monday and Tuesday at the Palmetto Dunes' Robert Trent Jones Oceanfront Course in Hilton Head Island, S.C.
In the past four seasons, Carson-Newman has started the season with just one top-five showing, winning the King Invitational to open the 2017-18 campaign. When lighting the candle on the spring slate, the Eagles have finished second in back-to-back years. Before last season's second-place finish at Hilton Head, Strudwick's side tied for second at the Spring Kickoff Intercollegiate to start the 2019 spring schedule.
"I think the girls are really excited. I mean, we've tried to get 54-holes in qualifying, which has been a little bit difficult. We started a week and a half ago on that just because we knew the extended forecast was going to be a little iffy," Carson-Newman coach Suzanne Strudwick said. "We have the makings of a really good five-man team. Very pleased with how it's gone. Obviously, the girls are a little bit rusty in qualifying but I think just that little edge of instead of just practicing to play, they've actually been practicing to qualify. It just steps everything up."
This marks the third straight season that C-N travels to the event hosted by Barton. The Eagles landed in the top three in both of their previous appearances. Last year's trip resulted in a runner-up effort with a +31 total of 607, just two shots shy of then-No. 14/16 Lee. Matilda Frövenholt (Öjersjö, Sweden) was the leading Eagle in the clubhouse, tying for 13th. She was eight-over through the two rounds with a 152.
When they head to the island this year, four of the five Eagles in the lineup will be playing there for at least the second time. Ellie Haughton (Lincolnshire, England) leads the team into the event this year at the top spot for the first time in her career. Last year, she, Jayla Sims (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) and Maeve Cummins (Waringstown, Northern Ireland) all landed in a tie for 33rd at +12. In 10 rounds through the 2019-20 campaign, Haughton averaged a 77.7 scoring clip.
Olivia Williams (Cleveland, Tenn.) will play at the second-seed for the event. In her debut at the event a year ago, she tied for 20th as an individual. She opened the event with her lowest round of her career with a 74, en route to a +9 showing.
Sims will serve as the third-seed at Hilton Head, the same position she played at in last year's event. She enters her senior campaign looking to build off of a 2019-20 season that saw her average a 77.8 score in 13 rounds.
Cummins is the only Eagle to play in all three of C-N's appearances at the event. She heads into this week as the No. 4 seed. Her best finish came in the group's first trip to the tournament in 2019 when she tied for fifth at +5. Cummins has led the team in scoring for the past two seasons, averaging a 75.6 score through her first two years as an Eagle. In her sophomore campaign, she held a 75.5 through 15 rounds, playing in the No. 1 spot in all but two events.
Rounding out the lineup for C-N is redshirt-sophomore Hannah Holland (Sale Creek, Tenn.), making her Orange and Blue debut. This will be the first collegiate event for the UT Chattanooga transfer.
C-N faces a highly competitive field out the gate that includes a top-10 nationally ranked team. No. 5 Lee returns as the reigning event champions. Out of the rest of the 13 teams in the field, Lander and Lincoln Memorial are the only other nationally-ranked sides, sitting at No. 22 and No. 24, respectively. at No. 22. C-N is one of six South Atlantic Conference teams in this year's event, also joined Catawba, Queens, Lenoir-Rhyne and Tusculum.
"We're setting ourselves up certainly for one of our most competitive seasons ever," Strudwick said, "but I feel as though if we play well, we can make it to regionals as a team because of the strength of fields we're playing against. I'm excited for that opportunity."
The two-day, 36-hole tournament opens on Monday with a shotgun start. Live scoring will be available through BirdieFire.
