Furman second at Palmetto Intercollegiate
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – Furman freshman Reona Hirai (-2) fired a 70 Sunday to tie for fourth place individually and propel the Paladins into second place in the opening round of play at the Palmetto Intercollegiate at the par-72, 5,972-yards Turtle Point Golf Course in Kiawah Island, S.C.
Hirai birdied three holes on the front to make the turn at 2-under then birdied No. 13 to finish the day two strokes behind leader Eunice Yi (-4) of GRU Augusta, who carded a 68 in Sunday's opening round.
Coastal Carolina (-6) holds a three-stroke lead over the 30th-ranked Paladins (-3), who carded a 285 in Sunday's round. No. 25 GRU August (E) and No. 39 Kansas (E) are three strokes behind Furman, while No. 42 Kansas State (+10) rounds out the top five teams.
Paladin sophomore Taylor Totland (-1) and junior Valentina Romero (-1) are tied for seventh entering Monday's round. Totland birdied three holes on the front, including scoring back-to-back birdies on No. 5 and No. 6, then added three additional birdies on the back to finish with a 1-under 71, while Romero birdied two on the front and one on the back for a 71.
Freshman Alice Chen (+1) is tied for 14th after opening the round with consecutive birdies on the first two holes and carding a 73, and senior Laura DeMarco (+6) shot a 78 with a birdie on No. 15 to tie for 56th entering the second round.
Furman will tee off of No. 10 Monday beginning at 11:12 a.m. to open the second round play. The 54-hole tournament will conclude on Tuesday with an 8:45 a.m. shotgun start.
Chattanooga tied for 10th at Palmetto Intercollegiate
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – The Chattanooga Mocs women’s golf team shot 304 in Sunday’s first round at the Palmetto Intercollegiate at Turtle Point Golf Course. The squad is tied for 10th with James Madison and Elon and is one behind the seventh-place trio of USF, College of Charleston and Xavier.
Isabella Loza and Megan Woods turned in 2-over-par 74s. The duo is tied for 23rd after 18 holes. They nearly had identical cards. Loza had one birdie, 14 pars and three bogeys, while Woods had two birdies and 12 pars against four bogeys. Loza has 55 pars over her last 72 holes, while Woods has eight birdies over her last three cards.
Freshman Cris Perez got the start this week and had the third-best score of the day for the Mocs with a 77. Agathe Sauzon had a 79, while Emily McLennan’s 81 was the drop score.
Coastal Carolina has the lead through 18 after a 282. Furman is second at 285, while No. 25 GRU Augusta and Kansas each carded 288 to stand in third. Eunice Yi (Augusta) and Lena Schaeffner (CCU) are tied for first at 4 under (68). The Jayhawks’ Yupaporn Kawinpakorn is third after a 69.
Monday’s second round begins at 9:44 a.m. The Mocs are paired with Campbell and Kansas State. McLennan is first to the No. 10 tee, followed by Sauzon (9:53), Perez (10:02), Woods (10:11) and Loza (10:20).
ETSU tied for 13th at Palmetto Intercollegiate
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – Vivienne Chin, Dominika Czudkova and Allyson Dunn are all tied for 42nd, while the ETSU women’s golf team is tied for 13th after first-round play concluded at the Palmetto Intercollegiate on Sunday at the Turtle Point Golf Course.
Chin, Czudkova and Dunn all carded a 4-over-par 76 and the Bucs totaled a team score of 17-over-par 305 in the opening round of the three-day tournament. Dunn led the Blue and Gold with three birdies, but it was a triple-bogey on the par-5, 472-yard No. 2 that cost the Buccaneer rookie from finishing near the individual leaders.
Coastal Carolina fired a 6-under-par 282 and holds the team lead by three strokes over 30th-ranked Furman. The Chanticleers and Paladins were the only teams to finish below par as No. 25 GRU Augusta (formerly Augusta State) and No. 39 Kansas are tied for third at even-par 288.
Individually, GRU Augusta’s Eunice Yi and Coastal Carolina’s Lena Schaeffner are tied atop the leaderboard at 4-under-par 68 after 18 holes of play. The duo enters Monday’s second round one shot ahead of Kansas’ Yupaporn Kawinpakorn.
Along with the trio of Buccaneers tied for 42nd, sophomore Rachel Pollock is tied for 48th at 5-over-par 77. Pollock was 1-over through 14 but played the final four holes at 5-over.
ETSU is tied with No. 31 Campbell.
Second round play begins at 9 a.m. on Monday, while the Bucs tee off at 11:12 a.m. from No. 10. ETSU is paired with Kansas and Furman.
Western Carolina 17th at Palmetto Intercollegiate
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – Redshirt junior Kristin Swindell led Western Carolina on Sunday with an opening-round score of 4-over-par 76 to stand tied for 42nd overall at the Palmetto Intercollegiate at the par-72, 5,972-yard Turtle Point course at the Kiawah Island Resort. The Catamounts are 17th overall in the team rankings after 18 of the scheduled 54 holes.
Paired with golfers from Charleston Southern and Xavier, WCU’s scoring five is slated to tee off on the front nine beginning at approximately 10:48 a.m. WCU’s individual, Bethany Galloway, will go off the back nine at 11:04 a.m.
Even-par through her opening three holes on Sunday, Swindell finished her back nine with a double-bogey on the par-3 14th before a bogey on the par-4 ninth to make the turn at 3-over. The Bradenton, Fla., native charted a third bogey on the par-5 second to move to 4-over for the day but managed to par her final seven holes in succession.
Juniors Kim Mitchell and Mariah Hopkins both shot 6-over-par 78 and are tied for 56th. Mitchell recovered from a 7-over-par back nine to shoot a team-best 1-under-par on the front nine. Mitchell, a product of Woodbridge, Va., carded two birdies and an eagle on the par-5 fifth and was poised to shoot 3-under on the front until a double-bogey on her final hole of the opening round.
Hopkins opened the tournament at 2-under-par with three birdies, a par and a bogey through her first five holes before making the turn at even-par after a double-bogey on the par-4 18th. A triple-bogey on the par-5 second left her at 3-over for the round and she finished the opening day with a double-bogey and a bogey.
Sophomore Ashley Thompson is tied for 89th overall after shooting 82, while Olivia Landino is 96th with a first-round 84. Thompson was 7-over on the back nine before recording a 3-over front, finishing the day with 10 pars. Landino had 11 pars on Sunday.
Playing unattached as an individual, Galloway is tied for 83rd overall after shooting 81 on Sunday, charting 10 pars with seven bogeys and one double-bogey.
UNCG 19th at Palmetto Intercollegiate
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – The UNCG women’s golf team sits in 19th place after the first round of the annual Palmetto Intercollegiate at the Kiawah Island Resort hosted by the College of Charleston.
The Spartans will tee off in round two from 10:28-11:02 a.m. from hole No. 10 Monday.
The Spartans posted a first-round score of 326 to sit in 19th place.
Junior Sammie Buchanan leads the Spartans after the first round in a tie for 34th place. Buchanan carded a 3-over-par 75 with 13 par scores and one birdie. Senior Berglind Bjornsdottir is the second Spartan scorer with a 9-over-par 81, while junior transfer Jessica Madsen notched an 83.