Pleier Leads Spartans At Winthrop Intercollegiate, 9th Individually
10/2/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Rock Hill, S.C. – USC Upstate women's golfer and Spartanburg (Dorman) native Taylor Pleier opened the Winthrop Intercollegiate with a 76 and stands tied for ninth place heading into Sunday's final round at the Rock Hill Country Club Saturday afternoon.
Pleier, one of three freshmen in the lineup for Upstate, was solid throughout her round and looks to be moving in the right direction with her game early in her collegiate career. She recorded three birdies and hit 12 greens in regulation on the day.
"What a tight field this is," said Upstate head coach Todd Lawton. "I couldn't be more happy with the freshman class that we have. I am thrilled with how the team supports each other. This group has the potential to really improve in the long term.
"Taylor just hit the ball well. More importantly, she was so into the game. She is such a competitor. She does better when she is focused and gets into that zone. She putted okay, enough to get it done. She didn't start the season very well in her first tournament, but lowered her scores in the last tournament. She came out today and played very well on a tougher course than she played the last time out. It's really nice to see."
Pleier is one of two Spartans in the top 20 as fellow freshman Amanda Hall (Tega Cay, S.C.) turned in a 79 and is tied for 18th. The two led Upstate to a first round 316 team score. The Spartans are in sixth place, just seven shots out of a top three finish entering the final round.
"Amanda is steady all around," said Lawton. "She is hitting the ball so well off the tee and has been around the green on every hole. She missed a couple of putts today that prevented her from shooting a lower score. She just needs to trust her reads and her putts."
Radford opened the tournament with a 301 to take the team lead. Gardner-Webb is second at 305 and is followed by Winthrop (309), Wofford (310), Presbyterian College (314), Upstate (316), Towson (317), The Citadel (319) and St. Francis (Pa.) (332).
Radford's Jade Okamoto and Gardner-Webb's Sammy Vass each carded a 73 to open the tournament and are tied for the individual lead. Three players - Anne Marie Covar (Wofford), Danielle Dunnagan (Winthrop) and Hannah Hellyer (Gardner-Webb) – are tied for third with a 74. Upstate's Pleier is just three strokes out of the lead.
Pleier and Hall were the only Spartans to shoot in the 70s. However, Johanna Ebenhag (Sr., Gothenberg, Sweden) was as close as she could get after finishing with an 80. She is tied for 27th. Rachel Lewis (Llanishen, Wales) was 10-over-par through her first 10 holes, but collected herself to finish 1-under over her final eight holes and shot an 81. Summer Wall (Sr., Chesnee, S.C.) carded an 85 on the day.
