University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
Great Smokies Mountain Intercollegiate
Judge Leads Spartans At Great Smokies Intercollegiate
9/19/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Sept. 19, 2009
Waynesville, N.C. - Jennifer Judge turned in a strong 74 in the first round of the Great Smokies Intercollegiate to lead the USC Upstate women's golf team Saturday afternoon at the Waynesville Golf Resort.
Judge, a sophomore from Hurley, Miss., was 1-under-par on the par-3's Saturday. She finished the day with a 74 to stand tied for 25th heading into Sunday's final round. She birdied two of her last four holes to finish strong.
"Coming away with birdie on two of her last four holes coming off an illness that caused her to miss two of the first four weeks of practice was impressive," said Upstate head coach Todd Lawton. "This is a very good and large field and our inexperience showed. When we had chances to make birdies, we made par. As we play more tournament golf and the team gels, I think we can improve on that and grow. The team atmosphere is very strong. They each want to lead each other and follow at the same time. That is really good to have both.
"As a coach I am excited about the players seeing the scoreboard they have the competitive drive to improve their scores."
Upstate, playing with four new players in the lineup after graduating five players from last year's team, turned in a 320 total on the day and stands 20th. The Spartans trail Appalachian State by four strokes in 19th and lead The Citadel by six strokes in 21st. Elon and host Western Carolina each shot a 286 to tie for the tournament lead heading into the final round. William & Mary is third after a 288 and was followed by Radford (299), Charleston Southern (300), Old Dominion (302), Saint Leo (304), Western Kentucky (305), Tennessee Tech (305) and Winthrop (305) in the top 10.
Austin Peay State, Gardner-Webb and Belmont each shot a 306 to tie for 11th. Presbyterian opened the tournament with a 307 and in 14th place and was followed by Bowling Green State (311), Savannah College of Art & Design (311), High Point (312), Alabama-Birmingham (314), Appalachian State (316), Upstate (320), The Citadel (326), S.C. State (328) and Mobile (328).
In addition to Judge, Cheryl Lo turned in a round in the 70's Saturday for Upstate. She shot a 78 in her first round as a Spartan after transferring to Upstate from Florida International this summer. She is tied for 58th heading into the final round Sunday.
Johanna Ebenhag was the third-lowest Upstate golfer on the day, finishing the round with an 81. Natalie Buch and Summer Wall each carded an 87 to round out the scoring for the Spartans.
Three players are tied for the individual lead heading into the final round. Elon's Tara McFadden, Western Carolina's Malin Jansson and Wiliiam & Mary's Caroline Sweet opened the tournament with a 3-under-par 69 to share the lead after the first round.
