Xu, Appalachian State lead Mimosa Hills Intercollegiate
MORGANTON, N.C. – Senior Yue Xu fired a 1-over 73 to tie for the lowest score of the opening round of the Mimosa Hills Intercollegiate at Mimosa Hills Country Club on Monday, as Appalachian State currently sits in first place in the 12-team field.
Xu, who was unable to play in last season’s Intercollegiate, is tied with Radford’s Alexandra Austin and Gardner-Webb’s Lauren Smith for the individual lead after the first round. Appalachian State sophomore Haley Zagoria is also in the top five at fourth place after carding a 2-over 74.
Appalachian State seniors Lauren Smith and Rumbidzai Masamvu closely followed, finishing with a 78 (+6) and 81 (+9), respectively.
Freshman Lily Yatawara rounded out the Appalachian lineup with an 86 (+14), putting her in a tie for 52nd place.
Individually, senior Mimi Burke is tied for ninth place, turning in a 76 (+4) for her opening round.
As a team, the Mountaineers paced the field with a 306 (+18), a shot ahead of Winthrop, which placed two players in the top 10. The top two t eams stand alone, as Winthrop is seven strokes ahead of Western Carolina and Wofford, who are tied for third.
The final round is set for Tuesday at Mimosa Hills, as the Mountaineers seek their first team championship since the fall season’s Winthrop Intercollegiate.
Western Carolina tied for third at Mimosa Hills Intercollegiate
MORGANTON, N.C. – Western Carolina, the defending tournament team champion, carded an opening-round 314 in Monday’s opening round to stand tied for third with Southern Conference foe Wofford at the Mimosa Hills Intercollegiate, hosted by Appalachian State at the par-72, 6,493-yard Mimosa Hills Golf & Country Club. WCU is eight strokes off first-round leader Appalachian State’s pace.
Western Carolina is being paced by a pair of freshmen after 18 of the scheduled 36 holes. Taylor Allison sits in a four-way tie for fifth place after a first-round score of 3-over par 75, while classmate Mariah Hopkins is tied with one other at 7-over 79. Sophomore Maria Kjelldorff is one stroke in back of Hopkins after a first-round 80, tied with six others, including Catamount freshman Fatima Gonzalez-Carriles in 22nd.
Senior Michelle Bello rounds out WCU’s side in a five-way tie for 40th at 83.
Appalachian State shot 306 on the opening 18 holes to take a one-stroke lead over second-place Winthrop at 307. The Catamounts and Terriers are tied for third at 314, with Presbyterian rounding out the top five, a stroke in arrears at 315.
Radford’s Alexandra Austin, Lauren Smith of Gardner-Webb and Yue Xu of Appalachian State sit tied atop the leaderboard after posting identical rounds of 1-over par 73.
Round two is scheduled for Tuesday morning.
Koechli shares lead, College of Charleston second at Pinehurst Challenge
PINEHURST, N.C. – Senior Vanessa Koechli shares the lead after the first day of tournament play at the 16th Annual Pinehurst Challenge hosted by the College of Charleston on the No. 6 Course at the Pinehurst Resort.
Koechli birdied four holes en route to an even-par first round. She made a 4 on the par-5 second and ninth holes and birdied the par-4 10th and 17th to close out the day at 3-over par after shooting a second-round 75. Koechli is tied with Caroline Lovette of Richmond, who carded rounds of 76 and 71.
As a team, the Cougars started off hot, firing a morning-round score of 294 – the lowest combined team round thus far of the tournament. They are currently three strokes off the lead at +21 behind Richmond (+18). CofC held a two-stroke lead over the Spiders after the first round behind freshman Julia Neumann, who shot a 1-under 71. She is tied for sixth with a two-round score of 149 (+5).
Freshman Morgan Webber, who is playing as an individual, shot 2-over in the second round to tie for 10th at plus-6. Freshman Mary Chandler Bryan and senior Kathy Boehm also earned spots in the top 25 in ties for 18th (+7) and 22nd (+8), respectively.
The final round will be played Tuesday beginning with a shotgun start at 9 a.m.
Samford tied for sixth at Pinehurst Challenge
PINEHURST, N.C. – The Samford University women’s golf team improved 11 strokes in the second round of play Monday at the 2013 Pinehurst Challenge as the Bulldogs jumped from 12th to sixth place at the 19-team tournament being hosted by the College of Charleston at the prestigious Pinehurst No. 6 Golf Course.
The Bulldogs opened Monday’s competition with a first-round tally of 312. After the opening 18 holes of play, Samford sat in a four-way tie for 12th place along with Morehead State, Delaware and William & Mary.
In the second round of action, the Bulldogs carded a total team score of 301 and jumped six positions to a tie for sixth place in the overall standings. Samford is currently deadlocked with Morehead State for the sixth position and trails first-place Richmond by 19 strokes.
Junior Natalie Mitchell and Anna Heim both led the Bulldogs with stellar scores Monday. Mitchell turned in a 36-hole tally of 152 (75-77), while Heim posted a two-round mark of 153 (80-73).
Also turning in solid scores for Samford on Monday were sophomore Bailey Gray (80-76=156), senior Kayla Turner (77-80=157) and sophomore Emily Stallings (88-75=163).
The 2013 Pinehurst Challenge is scheduled to conclude Tuesday with the final round of 18 holes to be played at the Pinehurst No. 6 Golf Course.