SOUTHPORT, NC – A second round score of 305 saw the Elon University women’s golf team fall from second to fourth on the team leaderboard at the Colonial Athletic Association Women’s Golf Championship.
Elon’s second round score was one shot lower than its opening round score, but three teams – College of Charleston, the University of Delaware and the University of North Carolina Wilmington – shot under 300, which none of the seven teams competing did in the first round.
Although conditions were calmer today compared to Friday’s gusty opening round, head coach Chris Dockrill said Elon could not take advantage.
“We just never got off to a good start today and I think we played better when the conditions were tougher,” Dockrill said. “Today was the day that you had to shoot a low number to be able to make a move on the field.”
Sophomore Lotte Fox shot a team-best round of 74 to move into a tie for 12th on the individual leaderboard. Fox made two birdies and posted a back nine score of 35, the best nine hole score of any Elon player through the first two days of the tournament.
Fox shot a three-over par 39 on the front nine and made a double bogey on the eighth hole after having to take a penalty drop due to a wayward tee shot. However, she made a 10 foot birdie putt on the 12th hole and a 25-foot birdie putt on 14 to gain momentum.
“It’s never good to have one of those doubles in there, you try to make bogey and that’s it,” Fox said. “I started making the putts on the back nine.”
Tied with Fox are juniors Annabelle Ackroyd and Svarin Yuenyong. Ackroyd, who entered the day tied for the lead after an opening round 73, did not make a birdie and shot a 79. Yuenyong posted a 78 that included a birdie on the par four 11th hole.
Graduate student Adel Vadkerti birdied the par four 18th hole to post a score of 77 and is tied for 26th place. After shooting 83 on Friday, sophomore Apple Ngamwong improved by seven shots in the second round, making 12 pars and a birdie to shoot 76.
While Fox believes it was easier to score in today’s conditions, she said Elon is struggling on the greens this week, which is preventing the team from being higher up the leaderboard.
“When we don’t play well, it’s usually because we’re not making the putts,” Fox said.
Despite dropping two spots on the team leaderboard, Elon is just 19 shots behind first place College of Charleston and nine shots behind third place UNCW. With a good round tomorrow, Dockrill believes Elon has a chance to improve its position.
“We’re a team that’s good enough to shoot even par, that should be our goal,” Dockrill said. “If we all play as good as we can play, we can shoot even par out here.”
Fox hopes Elon can play with more freedom in tomorrow’s final round to make a move up the leaderboard.
“We’ve just got to keep up a positive mindset and go into tomorrow with a good attitude,” Fox said. “We’ve got nothing to lose, so just go after it tomorrow.”
The final round at the Reserve Club at St. James will begin tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. Elon’s players will play in the first five groups of the day, with Ackroyd being the last player on the team to tee off at 8:50 a.m.