HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Furman extended its lead on day two of the SoCon Women’s Golf Championship, shooting a 14-over-par 302 to take a 22-stroke lead into Tuesday’s final round at Moss Creek Golf Club. Reona Hirai, who was tied for third after day one, posted a 2-over-par 74, jumping into first place overall.
Bogeying hole No. 3, Hirai, settled in, parring holes four through nine to finish one-over on the front nine. The senior from Summerville, South Carolina, opened up the back nine with a pair of pars followed by a pair of bogeys, but birdied two of the last three holes to match her front-nine score of 37. Natalie Srinivasan, who was the leader after day one, is tied for second with Chattanooga’s Holly Morgan.
As a team, the Paladins have four golfers tied for fifth or higher. Led by Morgan, Chattanooga jumped into a tie for second place with Mercer. The Mocs shot a 317 while the Bears shot 318 in the gusty day-two winds. Morgan was steady through the front nine, bogeying just one hole, but struggled a bit more after the turn, registering four bogeys, one birdie and four pars to shoot a 4-over-par 76. Chattanooga’s Megan Woods sits tied for eighth while Monica San Juan is tied for 11th.
Mercer’s Payton Schanen, who entered Monday as the leader, currently sits tied for fifth with Furman’s Haylee Harford and fellow teammate Hannah Mae Deems. Schanen shot a 9-over-par 81, while Harford posted a 2-over 74 and Deems scored a 4-over 76.
UNCG and Samford are tied for fourth at 646 overall, while ETSU sits in fifth with a total score of 651. Wofford (658), The Citadel (699) and Western Carolina (716) round out the field of nine.
Wofford’s Nicole Chin is the lone golfer in the top 10 from a team that is fourth or lower on the leaderboard. Chin triple-bogeyed hole No. 6, but birdied No. 8 to post a front-nine score of 39. Chin would shoot par on seven of the last nine holes to finish the round with a 5-over 77.
The final round will begin at the Moss Creek Golf Club on Hilton Head, Island, South Carolina at 8 a.m. Tuesday morning. Live stats can be found at https://www.birdiefire.com/tournament/46311/ and will be updated throughout the final round. The winner of the SoCon Championship will earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA regionals.
2018 Southern Conference Women’s Golf Championship
Moss Creek Golf Club
Par-72, 6,105 yards
Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Top 10 individuals R1 R2 Total
1. Reona Hirai, Furman 75 74 149
T2. Natalie Srinivasan, Furman 74 78 152
T2. Holly Morgan, Chattanooga 76 76 152
4. Alice Chen, Furman 77 76 153
T5. Haylee Harford, Furman 80 74 154
T5 Payton Schanen, Mercer 73 81 154
T5 Hannah Mae Deems, Mercer 78 76 154
T8. Nicole Chin, Wofford 79 77 156
T8. Megan Woods, Chattanooga 77 79 156
T8.Jacqueline Bendrick, Furman 75 81 156
Team standings R1 R1 Total
1. Furman 301 302 603
T2. Chattanooga 308 317 625
T2. Mercer 307 318 625
T4. UNCG 326 320 646
T4. Samford 319 327 646
6. ETSU 323 328 651
7. Wofford 330 328 658
8. The Citadel 349 350 699
9. Western Carolina 375 341 716