Early birdies help lift Golden Eagles two spots to fourth Tuesday at OVC
Early birdies helped the Tennessee Tech women's golf team climb two spots in the standings Tuesday, finishing the day fourth at the 2016 OVC Championships.
Click to view second round results (PDF)
By Rob Schabert, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information
OWENS CROSS ROADS, Ala. – The Tennessee Tech women's golf team opened play Tuesday loaded for bear – or, make that birdies – and the Golden Eagles' early play helped propel them to one of the best team scores of the day in the second round of the 2016 Ohio Valley Conference Championship.
A combined nine birdies on the front nine holes allowed coach Polk Brown's team to make the turn at three-over par and begin the climb up the leaderboard that finished in Tech holding fourth place at the close of the afternoon following a 302.
Only tournament leader Eastern Kentucky's 294 and second-place Jacksonville State's 300 were better marks for the round. Slicing nine shots off their first round total of 311, the Golden Eagles began moving the mountain and climbed from sixth to fourth place with the final round ahead on Wednesday.
Freshman Hollee Sadler led the way Tuesday, opening the day with three straight birdies. Despite two bogeys late on the front nine, she continued to play under par through 15 holes and saw her name nudge all the way up to third on the leaderboard. She closed with three bogeys, finishing the day at two-over par 74 and listed in a tie for fifth place overall at 150.
Junior Whitney Robertson and sophomore Allyson Dunn matched scores for the second straight day. After each cared a 78 Monday, the pair marked a pair of 75s on Tuesday and are tied for 14th place at 153. Robertson added three birdies Tuesday and had six bogeys and nine pars. Dunn had six birdies in the second round, coupled with six pars, one bogey, one double and one triple.
Seniors Maddi Everts and Megan Williamson round out Tech's lineup. Everts is tied for 23rd place with matching rounds of 79 for a 36-hole total of 158. Williamson is three shots back at 161, in 31st place with scores of 83 and 78.
Dunn ranks second in the tourney for most birdies with eight, while Sadler has six and Robertson five.
EKU leads the field with a commanding 20-stroke advantage, with rounds of 293 and 294 for a two-round 587. Jacksonville State is second at 607. Morehead State, which shot a 303 Tuesday, owns a one-shot edge on Tech for third place at 612. The Golden Eagles are at 613, followed closely by Murray State (614). Austin Peay shot a 311 Tuesday, and slipped to sixth place at 619, followed by Belmont (623) SIUE (647), Eastern Illinois (669) and Tennessee State (699).
A pair of players are tied for the overall lead at two-under 142, Eastern Kentucky's Anna Gleixner (68-74) and Murray State's Moa Folke (71-71). Emma Kate Liu of Belmont (74-74) is third at 148, with Sofie Levin of Eastern Kentucky (75-74) at 149.
The Golden Eagles tee off Wednesday beginning at 9:40 a.m., paired with players from Murray State and Austin Peay.
