Kiawah Island, S.C. – Western Carolina women's golf freshman Amy Wooten vaulted to the top of the individual leaderboard following Monday's first wave, finishing the second round tied for first with one other entering Tuesday's final 18 holes. Behind Wooten's strong showing, WCU (597) remains within reach of a top five team finish sitting 11th after 36 of the scheduled 54 holes.
Wooten followed her career-low round of 3-under par 69 from Sunday with a 2-under par round of 70 on Monday to advance from the runner-up spot into the individual lead. She is tied with fellow freshman in Ramya Meenakshisundaram of South Florida.
Paired with golfers from tournament host College of Charleston, Jacksonville, and Southern Conference foe UNCG, WCU's scoring five tees off between the sixth and ninth holes on the par-72, 5,964-yard Osprey Point Golf Club course with the 8:45 am shotgun start.
Opening on the par-4 16th, Wooten birdied the par-5 18th to move to the front nine at 1-under par before a bogey on the par-4 fourth relegated her back to even. The Clinton, N.C., native then went back-and-forth with a birdie followed by a double-bogey to sit at 1-over par with nine holes to play. Down the stretch, Wooten carded four birdies and four pars against one bogey to finish 2-under par, 70.
Sophomores Maya White and Hazel Martin both improved upon their opening-round scores by two strokes to sit in ties for 53rd and 85th, respectively. White followed her first-round 76 with a 2-over par 74 while Martin shot 3-over par 75 on Monday. Rounding out WCU's scoring five were junior Brianna Plummer in a tie for 134th with a two-day score of 156 (73-83) and sophomore Harper Gilreath (85-83=168), who also improved by two strokes to sit in a tie for 216th.
North Florida jumped six spots with a tournament-low round of 284 on Monday, carrying a four-stroke lead over first-round leader Coastal Carolina (581) into the final day. Delaware and the College of Charleston B-team are tied for third at 585 with Tulsa and Stetson sitting in a two-way tie for fifth with matching scores of 589.
WCU in 11th-place is just eight strokes outside of the fifth-place tie entering the last 18 holes of competition. Tuesday's final round gets underway with an 8:45 am shotgun start. Fans can follow along with live scoring through GolfStat.com.
11th – Western Carolina – 295-302 = 597
T1 – Amy Wooten – 69-70 = 139
T53 – Maya White – 76-74 = 150
T85 – Hazel Martin – 77-75 = 152
T134 – Briana Plummer – 73-83 = 156
T216 – Harper Gilreath – 85-83 = 168
