Chattanooga finishes seventh at Mason Rudolph Championship
FRANKLIN, Tenn. – The Chattanooga Mocs women’s golf team finished seventh in a strong field at Vanderbilt’s Mason Rudolph Championship on Sunday at Vanderbilt Legends Club. Freshman Megan Woods led the way with her first career par or better round, turning in level-par 72.
The team bested three teams that qualified for the 2014 NCAA Championship (Alabama, Michigan State & Tulane), as well as two, Alabama and Clemson, which finished among the top 15 in the rankings at Nos. 10 and 14, respectively, for 2013-14.
Emily McLennan tied for 13th for her second straight top-15 finish to open the season. She shot 4-over for her 54 holes ending up at 220. That was seven clear of Isabella Loza and Agathe Sauzon, who tied for 39th at 227. Sarah Dolmovich completed the event at 229, while Woods shot 233.
The Commodores won their own event behind medalist Jenny Hahn, who shot 5-under 211. Vandy’s even-par as a team was 11 better than runner-up LSU (875). Mississippi State was third at 880.
The Mocs are off until next month, when the squad travels north to Iowa. For the second year in a row, and third time overall, the squad is entered in the Diane Thomason Invitational, Oct. 4-5, hosted by Iowa at Finkbine Golf Course in Iowa City.
Furman leads Lady Paladin Invitational
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Furman women’s golf team carded an opening-round 286 Sunday to grab the first-round lead at the 43rd Lady Paladin Invitational at the par-72, 6,266-yard Furman University Golf Course.
The Paladins (-2), who notched their best round in Lady Paladin Invitational history and the third-best round in the tournament’s 43-year history, leads second-place Wake Forest (E) by two strokes and third-place Kansas (+1) by three strokes after 18 holes. Texas Tech (+5), Florida State (+5), North Carolina (+7), Kennesaw State (+9), ETSU (+10), Coastal Carolina (+10) and Yale (+10) rounded out the top 10 in the 18-team field.
Furman sophomore Taylor Totland (-2) and junior Valentina Romero (-2) each fired a 70, finishing the day tied for fourth at 2-under-par to lead the Paladins. Totland posted a bogey-free round with birdies at No. 2 and No. 17, while Romero notched five birdies to shoot a 31 on the front nine. Freshman Alice Chen (E) carded a first-round 72, Laura DeMarco (+2) shot a 74 and freshman Reona Hirai (+3) finished with a 75 to round out the Paladins’ lineup. Macy McRaney (+5) carded a 78 while playing as an individual.
Kansas’ Pornvipa Sadkee (-4) paced the field with an opening-round 68, tying the Lady Paladin record for best opening-round total, to grab a one-stroke lead over Wake Forest’s Sierra Sims (-3) and Yale’s Jennifer Peng (-3).
The teams at this year’s tournament are participating in Birdies for Water to benefit Golf Fore Africa, a 501 (c)(3) founded in 2006 by Furman golf alumna and LPGA Hall of Famer Betsy King. To date, GFA has raised over $2.5 million to fund projects in Rwanda, Lesotho, Kenya, Mali, Niger and Zambia. Currently, Golf Fore Africa is raising $2 million to bring clean water, improved sanitation and hygiene education to over 100 villages in rural Zambia.
Teams are raising money by securing pledges for each birdie their team members record during the tournament. In Sunday’s round, the Furman team raised $2,750, plus the Paladins secured flat donations of $2,580 entering the tournament.
The goal is to raise $15,000 among all the teams, which will bring clean water, improved sanitation and hygiene education to one village. To sponsor the Furman women’s golf team in this endeavor, email Furman coach Kelley Hester at Kelley.Hester@Furman.edu.
Second-round play is set to tee off at 9 a.m. on Monday with final-round play slated for Tuesday. Furman will tee off of No. 1 at 10:39 a.m. on Monday.
ETSU tied for eighth at Lady Paladin Invitational
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Carding scores of even-par 72, sophomore Linda Dobele and freshman Dominika Czudkova led the way for the ETSU women’s golf team during first-round play Sunday in the Lady Paladin Invitational at the Furman Golf Club.
The efforts of Dobele and Czudkova helped the Bucs to a team score of 298, which was good enough to tie for eighth place in the 18-team field. In the team competition, host Furman fired a score of 2-under-par 286 to lead by two strokes over Atlantic Coast Conference foe Wake Forest.
Individually, both Dobele and Czudkova finished the day tied for 12th, while Kansas’ Pomyipa Sakdee fired a 4-under-par 68 to hold the first-round lead by one stroke over Wake Forest’s Sierra Sims and Yale’s Jennifer Peng.
Other ETSU results on the day included a tie for 48th by both junior Vivienne Chin and freshman Allyson Dunn, who each fired scores of 5-over 77.
Second- and third-round play are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.
Western Carolina 16th at Lady Paladin Invitational
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Sophomore Olivia Landino led Western Carolina through Sunday’s opening round at the Lady Paladin Invitational, carding an opening round 5-over-par 78 to stand tied for 48th overall amidst the highly competitive field. WCU sits in 16th place after the first of three rounds, shooting 312 collectively as a team.
Paired with golfers from Southern Miss and fellow Southern Conference foe UNCG, Western Carolina’s scoring five will tee off on the back nine beginning at 10:39 a.m. until 11:15 a.m.
Landino charted three birdies in her first 18 holes on Sunday. The Hermitage, Pa., product made the turn at 5-over par before playing the back nine even with a pair of bogeys against two birdies.
Juniors Mariah Hopkins and Kristin Swindell were one stroke behind Landino, shooting 6-over 78 to stand tied for 57th overall, while classmate Taylor Allison fired 79 to stand tied for 69th after day one. Swindell and Hopkins played the front nine at 1-over-par. Hopkins carded a bogey on the par-4 No. 1 but responded with eight consecutive pars. However, a triple-bogey on the par-4 10th relegated her to 4-over for the round and she finished Sunday at 6-over-par. Swindell matched Landino with three birdies.
Rounding out WCU’s scoring five is junior Kim Mitchell with an opening-round 81 (80th).
Tournament host Furman leads the 18-team field by two strokes over second-place Wake Forest.
The second round gets underway with tee times at 9 a.m. on Monday.
UNCG 17th at Lady Paladin Invitational
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The UNCG women’s golf team concluded play in round one of the Lady Paladin Invitational Sunday at the Furman University Golf Club. The Spartans posted a team score of 324 in the first round on the 6,266-yard course to sit in 17th place.
The Spartans will tee off in round two Monday from 10:39-11:15 a.m. on hole No 10. Live scoring will be available via www.birdiefire.com. Tournament host Furman leads the team standings after posting a 286 score in round one, while Wake Forest is second with a 287. Kansas’ Pornvipa Sakdee holds the individual lead after carding a 4-under-par 68 Sunday.
Junior Sammie Buchanan was the Spartans’ top finisher after 18 holes, posting a 4-over-par 76 Sunday. Buchanan sits in a tie for 43rd place overall after carding 10 pars and two birdies in the round.
Junior Jessica Madsen posted her best round of the young season Sunday with a 7-over-par 79. Madsen is tied for 69th place overall and had three birdies on the day.
Senior Berglind Bjornsdottir turned in a 12-over-par 84, while sophomore Kristen Powers had a 13-over-par 85 and senior Andrea Rangel carded a 16-over-par 88.