September 15, 2011

Smoky Mountain Intercollegiate | Anderson Invitational

Both Columbus State and Flagler played in their sesaon-opening tournaments this week and both finished second in their respective events.  CSU was second at the Smoky Mountain Intercollegiate which also featured North Georgia and Montevallo, while Flagler was second at the Anderson Invitational.

Columbus State shot a second round score of 312 to finish the Smoky Mountain Intercollegiate in second place at the Highlands Course at The Golf Club of Sevierville. The Lady Cougars had a two-day score of 633 which was just six shots shy from tournament champions Shorter.

Joining Shorter and CSU in the top-five were West Florida (634), Carson-Newman (639) and Montevallo (664).

Leading Columbus State was Kimesha Anthony who finished the tournament tied for second place. The junior shot a two-over 73 to finish the tournament with a two-round score of 152. Nikki Crowley grabbed a top-five finish as well as she also shot a two-over 73. Crowley finished the tournament with a two-day score of 156.

Kristin Galek ended the tournament in a tie for 12th place with a two-day score of 160 after shooting an 81 in the final round. Five shots behind Galek was teammate Heather Altiser who shot an 85 in the second round to end the tournament with a score of 165.
Ciera Bagley also competed in the event for the Lady Cougars but her second round score of 94 did not factor into CSU's team score.

Lisa Persson of Shorter was the individual champion of the Smoky Mountain Intercollegiate as she fired a two-day score of 150 (78-72).

Entering the second round of play, North Georgia sat eight shots behind seventh place West Georgia and 12 shots behind sixth place King College. When the tournament came to a close, the Lady Saints vaulted past both teams, beating King College by 18 shots on the day and six strokes for the tournament and West Georgia by 10 on the day and two for the tournament.

The 36-stroke improvement left the Lady Saints with a two-day score of 720 (378-342) and it was the best among the eight schools that finished the tournament. Three of the four scorers for North Georgia improved their scores in day two of the Smoky Mountain Intercollegiate. The low scorer for the Lady Saints was junior Catalina Olarte, who improved on her opening round 84 by six shots, carding an eight-over-par 78. Olarte's two round total of 162 was good enough for an 18th place finish.

The biggest improvement in the entire field in round two of the Smoky Mountain Intercollegiate came from sophomore Erica Breeden who followed up an opening round 105 with a solid 14-over-par 84. The 21 shot improvement left Breeden with her lowest round at North Georgia and in 47th place for the tournament.

Casey Truelove and Abbey Gill were the other Lady Saints to score on Tuesday. Truelove improved on her opening round by 10 strokes, shooting an 18-over-par 88, giving her a two-day total of 186 (98-88). Truelove finished the tournament in a tie for 45th place. Gill closed out her first collegiate tournament with a 22-over-par 92, giving her a two-day total of 183 (91-92), which was good enough for a share of 41st place.

Montevallo finished fifth with a team 664 in the two-day event.  The Falcons were led by Ashlee Black who shaved seven strokes off of her opening-round 82 with a 75 to jump into a tie for sixth place.  Megan Clyne was tied for 23rd at 165 while Kaylee Hale was 29th with a 169.

Tracey Marshall finished in a tie for 32nd with a 173 while Kilary Shaner was tied for 36th with a 178.

Montevallo will return to action on Oct. 4 when they host the Full Moon Bar-B-Que Montevallo Invitational at the Timberline club in Calera, Ala.

The 23rd-ranked (Golf World/NGCA Top 25) Flagler College women’s golf team finished in second place with a team score of 635 at the Anderson University Invitational which concluded Tuesday afternoon at Cobb’s Glen Country Club (par: 72; yards: 5952). The Saints finished 14 shots back of Tusculum College.

Flagler shot a final round 319 which tied for the lowest team round on the day. Tusculum also shot a 319 to finish with an overall 621 to win the nine-team event.

Alyson Pugh of Tusculum took home medalist honors after carding a 4-over par 76 this afternoon. She finished the tournament with a 6-over 150 and held off teammate Emee Herbert by three strokes.

Marie Santacroce led the Flagler contingent with a 13-over 157 and finished in a tie for sixth place. Santacroce shot a 78 in the final round. Elin Karlsson tied for eighth-place with a 14-over 158. Marissa Marinan tied for 12th with a 16-over 160. Leslie Choucard finished in a tie for 14th place with a 17-over 161. Nicole Keyser rounded out the field for Flagler with a 19th place finish. She carded a 20-over 164.

Next up for Flagler will be the Lady Falcon Invitational Sept. 24-25 at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla.