Mercer leads Great Smokies Intercollegiate
WAYNESVILLE, N.C. – Sophomore Katy Harris fired a 4-under 68 on Saturday to help put the Mercer women’s golf team in the lead after one round of the Great Smokies Intercollegiate, hosted by Western Carolina.
Mercer’s team total of 288 positioned the Bears atop the seven-team leaderboard, with host Western Carolina just two strokes off the pace. Western Kentucky (294), USC Upstate (298) and Presbyterian (311) make up the top five.
Harris’ 68 was the low round of the day, leaving the St. Simons Island, Georgia, native two strokes ahead of Western Carolina’s Olivia Landino for the individual lead. Sophomore Marin Hanna also posted a sub-par round, using 71 strokes to conclude the day’s action in a tie for third.
Freshman Hannah Mae Deems posted an even-par 72 and is in sixth place overall. Senior Meredith Owen carded a 77 and is tied for 21st, while her classmate Sarah Brown shot 82 and is tied for 29th.
Sunday’s final round is scheduled for a 9 a.m. start.
Western Carolina second at Great Smokies Intercollegiate
WAYNESVILLE, N.C. – Mercer carded an even-par score of 288 to lead the seven-team field, two strokes ahead of tournament host Western Carolina (290) in second place at the 16th-annual Great Smokies Intercollegiate hosted at the par-72, 5,932-yard Waynesville Inn - Golf Resort & Spa.
The two front-runners dominated the top six individuals after 18 holes as Mercer put three scoring golfers at the top of the leaderboard, while WCU had two team members and an individual among the top six. Mercer's Katy Harris shot an opening round 4-under-par 68 to lead the 37-golfer field. Harris is two strokes ahead of Catamount sophomore Olivia Landino, who fired her career-best round of 2-under-par 70 on the first 18 holes.
Behind Harris, Mercer's Marin Hanna shot 1-under 71 to sit tied for third, with teammate Hannah Mae Deems in sixth with an even-par 72. WCU junior Mariah Hopkins sits tied for third, three strokes off the pace at 71.
Playing unattached as an individual, two-time defending tournament individual medalist Taylor Allison of Western Carolina is tied for third after a 1-under-par 71 fired on Saturday.
Behind Mercer and WCU, Western Kentucky sits third with an opening-day 294, six strokes off the pace with USC Upstate (298) and Presbyterian (311) rounding out the top five. Sandhills Community College (327) is sixth and The Citadel (330) seventh in the team standings.
For Western Carolina behind Landino and Hopkins, redshirt junior Kristen Swindell sits in a tie for seventh-place with a one-over par 73. Junior Kim Mitchell shot four-over par 76 to stand in a tie for 18th overall with sophomore Ashley Thompson rounding out the scoring five with a first-round 78.
Playing as an individual alongside Allison, sophomore Bethany Galloway carded a career-low 1-over-par 73 to sit in the five-way tie for seventh.
All told, five of WCU's seven golfers on roster are within the top seven competitors in the field.
The final round is scheduled for a shotgun start on Sunday morning beginning at 9 a.m.
ETSU seventh at Mary Fossum Invitational
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Sophomore Linda Dobele is tied for 12th, while the ETSU women’s golf team is in the middle of the pack following the first two rounds of the 31st annual Mary Fossum Invitational, which began on Saturday at the Forest Akers West Golf Course.
Dobele led the Buccaneers – who are in seventh place of the 15-team field – by posting a two-round score of 8-over-par 152 (75-77). Dobele, a 2013 Atlantic Sun All-Freshman Team selection, enters Sunday’s final round eight shots back of the leader. The ETSU sophomore totaled 23 pars and three birdies in the two rounds.
Overall, the Blue and Gold finished the day with a team score of 624 (319-305), while ETSU is 10 shots back of Michigan and Houston, who are tied for fifth.
Michigan State, the tournament host and reigning Big Ten champion, finished the day at 23-over-par 599 (307-292), and the Spartans hold a seven-shot lead over Notre Dame and a 10-stroke advantage over Toledo.
The Spartans also hold the top spot on the individual leaderboard as Sarah Burnham posted a 1-over-par 145 (75-70) and the Michigan State freshman has a one-shot lead over Gabrielle Shipley of Grand Valley State.
Other ETSU notables include junior Vivienne Chin and sophomore Dominika Czudkova. Chin, last season’s A-Sun champion, is tied for 18th at 10-over 154 (79-75) and Czudkova is tied for 28th in the 86-player field.
The final round gets underway Sunday at 8:30 a.m., as ETSU is paired with Western Michigan and Grand Valley State.