GREENVILLE, S.C. — The Catawba College women's golf team opened the South Atlantic Conference Championship with two rounds on Sunday, claiming the third position through 36 holes of stroke play at The Preserve at Verdae.
The Catawba Indians notched their fourth-best round all-time with an 8-over-par 296 in the opener – tying No. 1 Wingate for the field's second-lowest – en route to posting a 600 (+24) for the day. 24th-ranked Lincoln Memorial tops the team leaderboard at 583 (+7), leading Wingate by 12 strokes and Catawba by 17. The blue and white have a nine-shot buffer ahead of No. 3 Anderson while sitting 15 shots above the cut for Tuesday's medal match play.
On the individual leaderboard, Dilyara Bulambayeva of LMU leads after recording back-to-back par rounds to hold a one-stroke edge over Wingate's Amely Bochaton and Olivia Meinecke, the No. 1 and 5 players in Division II, respectively.
RESULTS
T-5. Rachel Carlson (147, +3)
T-10. Mary-Paige King (149, +5)
T-13. Sara Kristinsdottir (151, +7)
T-28. Taya Buxton (159, +15)
T-28. Hannah Waddell (159, +15)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After a front-nine par in the first round, Carlson strung together eight pars and an 18th-hole birdie to register a one-under 71; she followed it with a second-round 76 to tie for fifth place
- King put up one birdie in both rounds while limiting miscues as she improved by a stroke in the second 18, turning in a team-best 74 to close the day
- Kristinsdottir experienced an up-and-down start but stabilized in the second round with a 76-75 scorecard and five total birdies
- Waddell burst out of the gate with a 74, shaking off a second-hole double bogey to go even the rest of the way with three birds; the Salisbury native fell in the second round, logging an 85
- Instead of allowing an early +4 to derail her opening round, Buxton recovered and limited the damage to an 80 before sharpening her game in the second, trimming her score by a shot with a team-score-contributing 79
UP NEXT
Catawba looks to strengthen its position in the third round of stroke play tomorrow morning with the Catawba Indians' tee times beginning at 8:50 a.m.
