University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
Kiawah Intercollegiate
Clontz Paces Spartans At Kiawah Island Classic
2/22/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Feb. 22, 2010
Kiawah Island, S.C. - Marissa Clontz gathered herself midway through the second round of the Edwin Watts/Kiawah Island Classic and carded an 84 to lead the USC Upstate women's golf team Monday afternoon.
Clontz, a freshman from Greenville, S.C., had opened the tournament with a 93 Sunday. She rallied Monday, shaving nine strokes off of her score to post an 84, four strokes lower than any other Spartan on the day.
"Marissa played nine of her last 10 holes very well and made one of the best pars I've ever seen on the fifth hole," said Upstate head coach Todd Lawton. "Her second shot landed in the water hazard short of the green and she blasted it out of the muddy water to about three feet and tapped in for par. She focused well despite the heavy rains."
Behind the play of Clontz, Upstate lowered its score by five strokes over Sunday's round, finishing the day with a 360. Despite the improvement, the Spartans remain 33rd in the tournament.
"While it would be nice to focus on positives, the last two days have forced us to look at the reality of keeping the golf ball in play and two-putting greens from reasonable distances," said Lawton. "Some of the golf courses we play reward solid shots that are slightly right or left of the target line as much as shorter ones with better accuracy. At Kiawah, missing fairways results in penalty strokes and we've had a bunch of them."
Cheryl Lo posted an 88 in the second round, while Summer Wall lowered her score by six strokes over Sunday's round of 94, carding an 89 Monday.
"Summer was determined to play better today and did," said Lawton. "Her five-shot improvement helped our team score improve."
Natalie Buch and Johanna Ebenhag turned in rounds of 99 and 101 to round out the scoring for the Spartans.
Augusta State leads the tournament for the second straight day with a 36-hole total of 591. East Tennessee State and East Carolina are tied for second at 595 and are followed by Minnesota (600), Western Carolina (602), Middle Tennessee (602), Miami (603), Oral Roberts (603), Campbell (605), Illinois State (607), Florida International (612), College of Charleston (613), Central Arkansas (615), Kansas (617), Oregon State (619), Elon (622), William & Mary (624), Missouri State (625), Mercer (632), Jacksonville State (633), Akron (634), Morehead State (636), Toledo (640), Charleston Southern (641), Richmond (643), Drake (644), Wichita State (644), Winthrop (654), Southern Illinois (654), Bucknell (657), Old Dominion (658),The Citadel (704) and Upstate (725).
Crystal Reeves shot a 4-under-par 68 Monday to take over the individual lead. She leads the tournament by two strokes over East Tennessee State duo Nina Muehl and Sinead O'Sullivan.
