University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
Holiday Inn Express Hatter Classic
Hall Leads Spartans at Hatter Classic
11/5/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
DeLand, Fla. – Behind the solid play from Amanda Hall, the USC Upstate women's golf team turned in a solid day and is in fourth place at the Holiday Inn Express/Hatter Classic Monday afternoon.
The Hatter Classic is being played at Victoria Hills Country Club. Upstate is making its sixth appearance in the tournament. The Spartans turned in rounds of 314 and 315 and are in fourth place in the nine team field with a 629 total. Hall (Tega Cay, S.C.) led the Spartans on the day, shooting 74 and 77 to finish the first two rounds of the 54-hole tournament with a 151 total. She is in third place on the leaderboard.
Upstate will begin the final round on Tuesday in fourth with an eight-stroke lead over Bethune-Cookman and are seven shots back of McNeese State.
Daytona State opened the tournament with rounds of 313 and 302 to take the lead with a 615 total. Stetson is three strokes back at 618 and is followed by McNeese State (622), Upstate (629), Bethune-Cookman (637), North Florida (639), Florida Atlantic (640), Lipscomb (655) and Webber International (715) on the leaderboard.
Hall was simply outstanding Monday, but she wasn't the only Spartan to turn in strong rounds. Taylor Barnes (Spartanburg, S.C.) is gunning for a Top 10 finish to close out the fall season. She carded rounds of 76 and 78 for a 154 total and is eighth on the leaderboard.
"Amanda played so well and steady," said Upstate assistant coach Audrey Church. "She was able to convert on some really solid approach shots and just stayed away from any big numbers."
Rachel Reiling (Littleton, Colo.) shaved four strokes off of her score from the first round to the second, firing 83 and 79 for a 163 total. She is in 23rd place. Brittany Lowe (Spartanburg, S.C.) is tied for 34th after turning in rounds of 86 and 81, improving her second round score by five strokes over her first round. Marissa Clontz (Greenville, S.C.) shot 81 and 90 and is 39th.
Stetson's Sammi Smith opened the tournament with a 70 and shot 74 in the second round. She owns the individual lead by five shots with a 144 total.
"We saw a lot of good things on the course today," said Church. "All five of our players contributed. It was really good to see us play so well and find ourselves near the top of the leaderboard. The fact that we have two players in the Top 10 is very exciting as well. We struggled early in the fall holding on in the second round. It was good to see that everyone kept their composure and stayed in it in the second round."
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