The Citadel fourth at Sand Shark Shootout
BLUFFTON, S.C. – The Citadel women’s golf team completed round one of the Sand Shark Shootout on Monday in fourth place.
Eraina Manor carded the lowest score for The Citadel, shooting 79 at Hampton Hall Country Club to be tied for 13th. Cameron Little and Marina Grimal were only one stroke behind, both shooting 80s in round one.
Renata Sucha shot an 83 and Laura Simpson recorded a 101 to round out the rest of the Bulldogs’ lineup.
As a team, The Citadel currently sits in fourth place. USC Beaufort, Coastal Georgia, Queens University, Webber International, Columbia College and Warner University round out the rest of the teams in the tournament.
The Bulldogs will finish up the Sand Shark Shootout on Tuesday with the conclusion of round two. A shotgun start is scheduled for 1:15 p.m.
Wofford fifth at Jacksonville Classic
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Led by senior Meagan Higgins’ 1-over 73 and even-par 72, the Wofford women’s golf team is in fifth place after the first two rounds of the Jacksonville Classic. The tournament teed off Monday morning at Marsh Landing Country Club.
Wofford carded team rounds of 6-over 294 and 5-over 293 to sit at 11-over 587. The 36-hole total is the second-lowest in program history, four strokes shy of the school-record 583 posted in the fall of 2008 at the Great Smokies Collegiate.
Higgins was solid. The senior from Piedmont, S.C., used an eagle and two birdies to tie her career low in the first round of 1-over-par 73. The very next round, she set a new career low, carding two birdies and two bogeys for an even-par 72. Her 36-hole total of 1-over-par 145 is also a career low and she is tied for 12th place in the 78-player field.
Sophomore Lela Oakley, sophomore Nicole Chin, junior Katy Funk and senior Emiley Pagrabs all backed up Higgins with good rounds. Oakley led the group with back-to-back 2-over-par 74s and is in 25th place at 4-over 148. Chin, Funk and Pagrabs are all tied for 33rd at 5-over-par 149. Chin matched Higgins for Wofford’s low round of the day of even-par 72 in the second round.
Florida State leads the field at 19-under 557. The Seminoles of 20 shots clear of second-place Rollins College (+1), followed by Daytona State (+4), North Florida (+8) and Wofford (+11) to round out the top five. FSU’s Matilda Castren leads all players at 7-under-par 137.
Wofford will close out the JU Classic with one more round on Tuesday.
Western Carolina ninth at Jacksonville Classic
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Senior Mariah Hopkins carded her two best rounds of the young 2015-16 season on Monday to pace Western Carolina at the Jacksonville Classic, hosted by the Dolphins at the par-72, 5,967-yard Marsh Landing Country Club. Golfers overcame a damp course early as heavy rain fell just prior to the first round on Monday morning.
Hopkins posted rounds of 2-over-par 74 and 1-over 73 to sit tied for 18th overall after 36 of the scheduled 54 holes of competition. Western Carolina collectively shot 297 and 299 as a team to sit ninth overall entering Tuesday’s finale.
Senior Kim Mitchell paced WCU through the first round with an even-par, 72, matching three bogeys with a trio of birdies. Three bogeys and a double-bogey three holes from the finish countered the lone birdie of the second 18 holes, leaving Mitchell at 4-over-par 76 in the second round. She slipped 12 positions into an eight-way tie for 25th overall.
Freshman Maddi Caldwell and junior Bethany Galloway are both tied for 42nd overall after posting matching rounds of 76 and 75 for a total of 151. Freshman Natalia Villavicencio rounds out WCU’s scoring five in a tie for 47th, just a stroke behind her teammates at 152 (75-77). Caldwell carded her career-low round with her second-round 75, while Villavicencio matched her career best with the same score on the opening 18 holes.
Playing unattached as an individual, junior Ashley Thompson sits in a two-way tie for 70th overall after rounds of 84 and 80 for a total of 164.
Paired with golfers from Stetson and Seminole State, Western Carolina’s scoring five opens Tuesday’s final round on the back nine between the 11th and 15th holes with a shotgun start scheduled for 8:30 a.m. WCU’s lone individual, Thompson, opens play on hole No. 18.
Samford seventh at Chris Banister Golf Classic
GLENCOE, Ala. – A pair of freshmen are leading the Samford women's golf team through two rounds of the 2015 Chris Banister Golf Classic, hosted by Jacksonville State University at Silver Lakes Golf Course, Sunday through Tuesday.
As a team, Samford is tied for seventh in the tournament. The Bulldogs have posted a two-day score of 630 (317-313). Troy leads the tournament with a score of 614 (314-300).
Anna Buchanan leads the team, sitting in fourth after carding a two-day score of 151 (76-75). The talented freshman is leading the Bulldogs for the second straight tournament after finishing tied for 10th in the Lady Paladin Invitational last weekend.
Fellow freshman Emily Uhland is currently tied for 12th in the tournament. She has posted a two-round total of 154 (76-78). Uhland led Samford in its first tournament of the fall, tying for ninth at the FedEx Memphis Women's Invitational, two weeks ago.
Playing as an individual, freshman Crockett Floyd is tied for 20th with a score of 156 (78-78). Also playing as an individual from Samford is junior Haley Harrington, tying for 38th at 162 (83-79).
Sophomores Haley Wagner and Kate Collom are both tied for 45th with identical scores of 164. Sophomore Madeline Davis is tied for 52nd with a two-round total of 165 (80-85).
The tournament will conclude with one final round on Tuesday. The round is set to begin at 7:30 a.m.
Mercer 15th at Johnie Imes Invite
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mercer University freshman Mary Augusta Janiga finished the opening day of Missouri's Johnie Imes Invitational in seventh place to help lead the women's golf team to a two-round total of 606 on Monday.
Mercer's back-to-back scores of 303 put the team in 15th place overall. The Bears head into Tuesday's final round five strokes out of 12th place. Host Missouri leads the 18-team field with a total score of 549, while Middle Tennessee and Iowa round out the top three.
Janiga had another incredible day on the links for the Bears, as the freshman heads into the final day in search of her second straight top-10 finish to open her collegiate career. The Wellington, Fla., native rebounded from a slow start with four birdies over her final seven holes to finish the opening round with a 1-under 71. She carried that momentum over to the second round of the afternoon, carding a 3-under 69 to finish the day in seventh place with a 4-under tally of 141.
Mercer totaled 17 birdies through the first two rounds, including a team-leading eight from Janiga. Janiga and fellow freshman Payton Schanen each tied for the team lead with 24 par holes on Monday.
Schanen opened the day with a career-best 70 (2-under), before finishing the day in 28th place with a two-round score of 146. The freshman finished with five birdies on the day.