LEXINGTON, Va. -- The Bridgewater College women's golf team is attempting to win the Knight Invitational for a fifth straight year and are off to a good start after leading the pack through the first round.
The Eagles shot a 336, which is top of the leaderboard by two strokes over host school Southern Virginia and Catholic who each finished with a score of 338. The team actually finished its round early and watched on as the leading teams hit the toughest stretch of the course -- holes 14-18 -- with those holes ranking as the hardest of the course according to scoring stats.
Sophia Martone finished with a round of 81 and is tied for ninth place after the first 18 holes. Martone, who won the last event she competed in, was one under par through the first seven holes and sat in first place, but dropped three strokes before going in at two over. Martone said she felt she drove the ball well, but when she missed greens on her back nine, she was unable to scramble effectively.
Savannah Scott is tied for ninth with Martone at nine-over 81. Starting on the back nine, Scott managed the toughest holes very well as she dropped in seven pars and dropped just two strokes. Scott felt that she ran out of steam on the back and dropped seven strokes to finish at her nine-over score.
The third player of the group in the top 15 was
Madolin Neff who is T-15 with an 85. Neff played steadily enough despite being displeased with her ball striking overall. She mirrored her +7 on the back with a six-over on the front half of the course.
"The finishing holes can be relentless with water carries and tiered greens," said Rogers on the back stretch of holes on the back nine portion of the Lexington Country Club. "Maddi dropped five strokes in that stretch of holes despite a birdie on 17, otherwise she played her game"
Freshman
Emily Price likewise, dropped seven strokes on the tough stretch but was able to drop a birdie on the 17th hole. She came out with a 47 and bounced back with a 42 to finish the day.
Rounding out the team was
Shaina Beach who dropped 11 strokes in the "corner" but played the back in a 43 to finish with a 95. She is tied for 22nd place after the first round.
Playing as an individual,
Kaitlyn Gaeth finished with a 92 despite dropping nine strokes through the first nine holes played. She completed the course with a 42 on the front nine, which came as one of her best stretches in her college career.
Evelyn Hunter also played as an individual and finished at 100. She was able to hit a lot of fairways in day one, but she said her putter let her down over the course of the day.
"We have always had fun at this event, and have picked up quite a bit of hardware here, so hopefully Tuesday will bring more of the same," said Rogers. "Scoring was toughter today than our first two tournament and we need to reduce the number of large scores, but we are still where we need to be, and the ladies tend to be great about adjusting and learning after the first round."
Assistant Coach Michael Clark, who is traveling with the team this week, said "We have a lead and room for improvement. Sometimes you compete against the field and your own true potential, that is what we get to do tomorrow."
"I look forward to the challenge and I believe the kids will make Tuesday a statement day," continued Clark.
The tournament finishes up tomorrow with a shotgun start beginning at 9 am.
