C-N hangs on for Battle at Hilton Head title
HILTON HEAD, S.C. – Carson-Newman used a five-shot improvement in Tuesday’s final round to go wire-to-wire at the top of the leaderboard at the Battle at Hilton Head with every Eagle finishing in the top 25 of the field.
HILTON HEAD, S.C. – Carson-Newman used a five-shot improvement in Tuesday's final round to go wire-to-wire at the top of the leaderboard at the Battle at Hilton Head with every Eagle finishing in the top 25 of the field.
The Eagles won by just a single shot with a 53-over 629 through the two rounds, firing a 312 in the final 18. On the week, C-N was the best par-3 and par-5 scoring team at 14-over and 8-over, respectively. It was also on par for 100 holes, the most in the field.
The third time truly was the charm for C-N, marking the third straight season that it landed in the top three, finally finishing with the trophy belonging to the Orange and Blue.
"Obviously, I'm very happy with our result today," Carson-Newman coach Suzanne Strudwick said. "This was a really tough course that was extra windy today. This is one of the toughest courses that we will play the entire year. The girls did well. After back-to-back top-three finishes, finally winning this year is just tremendous."
This is the first time since the 2017-18 campaign that C-N started its season with a victory, winning the King Invitational that season. In terms of the spring, this marks the first win in the spring-opener in program history.
Despite adding four shots onto her first round score, Maeve Cummins (Waringstown, Northern Ireland) was the highest Eagle on the scoreboard yet again, falling down to a tie for third at 10-over. She carded a 79 in the round with five bogeys all on par-4s and a double bogey on the par-5 ninth hole. On the week, the junior was the best par-3 scorer, being the only player in the entire field to shoot in the red on such holes at 14-under.
Hannah Holland (Sale Creek, Tenn.) had the biggest round-to-round improvement for the Orange and Blue, scoring eight shots better than her first round score with a 75 on Tuesday, garnering her a tie for 13th in her collegiate debut. The redshirt-sophomore was 3-over in the round with a birdie, a pair of bogeys and a double-bogey. She was the best par-4 scorer in the field for the final round with an even mark on those holes. She was 14-over for the event, just four shots behind Cummins. Her 75 marked the lowest round for C-N on the day.
Just three shots separated the rest of the Eagles on the leaderboard, starting with Ellie Haughton (Lincolnshire, England) in a tie for 20th at 17-over. She was 7-over-par in the final round, carding a 79 that pushed her to a 161 total. The sophomore was even heading into the turn on a pair of birdies and bogeys within the first four holes of the day. She closed the round with six consecutive holes above par, one of those being a double bogey on the par-3 17th.
Checking in with a share of 22nd was Olivia Williams (Cleveland, Tenn.) with a 162 that was 18-over. She shot for the most birdies among her teammates with three, two of those coming in the front nine. Those birdies helped her to tie for the most in the field during the final round.
Jayla Sims (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) tacked on nine shots in her last round compared to where she entered the clubhouse on Monday, closing out with a share of 25th on a 19-over 163. The senior was 14-over on Tuesday, shooting for bogey or higher on 11 holes. Of those shots, she bogeyed eight, all but two coming on par-4 holes.
Carson-Newman landed one shot ahead of runner-up Lenoir-Rhyne who was 54-over with a 630. Central Missouri, No. 6 Lee and Tusculum rounded out the top five.
Belmont Abbey's Jenna Nagy was the top individual with a 6-over 150. Lenoir-Rhyne's Megan Robb took second at 7-over. Cummins joined Lee's Supusc Srinchantamit and Emily Ritchie in a tie for third at 10-back.
It's a quick turnaround for the Eagles as they head back on the road to the Palmetto State this coming week for the Low Tide Intercollegiate. That two-day tournament will take place at the Dunes West Golf Club in Mt. Pleasant, S.C. starting on March 1.
|
Carson-Newman |
317 |
312 |
629 |
+53 |
1st |
|
75 |
79 |
154 |
+10 |
T-3rd |
|
|
83 |
75 |
158 |
+14 |
T-13th |
|
|
82 |
79 |
161 |
+17 |
T-20th |
|
|
83 |
79 |
162 |
+18 |
T-22nd |
|
|
77 |
86 |
163 |
+19 |
T-25th |
