Oct. 1, 2005
Waynesville, N.C. - After the first round of the Seventh Annual Wachovia-Great Smokies Women's Intercollegiate, host institution Western Carolina and Ohio University stand tied for first after each carded a tournament-record 286 on Saturday to lead the 24-team field. Ohio's Julie Tomlinson tied a tournament record-low round of 66 (32-34) to lead the individual tournament by two strokes over defending champion, Western's Ashley Hovda and Elin Andersson of South Alabama, who each shot 68.
In addition to setting the tournament record, Western's 286 was also the lowest single round in school history by five strokes. The old mark was 291 set at the same event in last year.
Three teams on Saturday shot lower than the previous tournament low. In addition to the first-place Catamounts and Bobcats, the South Alabama women fired a one-over par, 289, which was better than the previous team single-round low on 18 holes, the aforementioned 291 by Western Carolina a year ago. The Jaguars currently sit in third, three strokes behind the tie atop the standings, with Xavier (292) in fourth and East Tennessee State (294) rounding out the top five.
|
|
 |
For the Catamounts, sophomore Malin Fryk is three-strokes behind in a seven-way tie for ninth place after shooting 71 during the first 18. Fryk is joined in the tie by teammate, senior Erika Danford who is playing as an individual. Having never broken par, Danford's last two times out have been below the benchmark, which included the final team qualifying round last Wednesday and Saturday's opening round.
Shooting even par on both the Carolina and Blue Ridge courses, Andersen is amidst a six-way tie for 16th with her 72 (36-36), with junior Bianca Melone tied for 40th (39-36=75) and sophomore Kandy Carland tied for 54th (38-38=76).
Western Carolina senior Ashley Hovda is tied for second after leading the Catamounts with an opening round 68 on Saturday.  |
|
Western, the three-time defending champion, will look for its fourth-consecutive tournament title on Sunday morning as round two, 18-holes on the par 72, 5,828-yard Waynesville Country Club, is set to tee off at 9:30 am with a shotgun start. In each of the past three tournaments, the Catamounts have entered the championship round either first or second on the team leaderboard to claim the crown.
Having already claimed the team and individual championships in their first two events of the 2005-06 season, the Cats will be searching for their third-consecutive victory to open this season, which would be the first-time in school history that a women's golf team would have won three tournaments in a row.
Fin. School Scores
1 Western Carolina U. 286 -2
Ohio University 286 -2
3 South Alabama, U. of 289 +1
4 Xavier University 292 +4
5 East Tennessee State 294 +6
6 Wofford College 295 +7
7 Mercer University 297 +9
8 Western Kentucky U. 298 +10
Tennessee Tech U. 298 +10
10 Belmont University 299 +11
11 Gardner-Webb Univ. 300 +12
12 Elon University 302 +14
Longwood University 302 +14
14 High Point U. 303 +15
15 Citadel, The 305 +17
Troy University 305 +17
17 Appalachian State U. 306 +18
Radford University 306 +18
19 Austin Peay State U. 310 +22
20 Mobile, U. of 320 +32
21 Monmouth University 322 +34
22 Dayton, U. of 326 +38
23 Lipscomb University 331 +43
24 Tennessee State U. 350 +62
