Smith and Hellyer Record Top-10 Finishes; GWU Finishes Tied for Third at the Great Smokies Intercollegiate
September 20, 2011 | Women's Golf
Waynesville, N.C. - Juniors Lauren Smith and Hannah Hellyer each carded rounds under 70 on Tuesday to both place in the top-10 and lead Gardner-Webb to a third-place finish overall at the 13th annual Great Smokies Intercollegiate played at the par-72, 5,932-yard Waynesville Inn, Golf Resort and Spa.
The Runnin' Bulldogs, who carded a team score of 301 in the first round of play on Monday, finished Tuesday with a team low score of 282, -6 under par, to place them in a tie for third-place overall with a two-round combined score of 583, +7. GWU as a team led the tournament with 34 birdies and was second overall as a team with two eagles for the event.
For the second straight tournament thus far this season, Smith was the low scorer for the Runnin' Bulldogs as she placed third overall with a two-round combined score of 139, -5 under par. Smith, who turned in a first round 72, even par, on Monday, followed up with a GWU low round of 67, -5 under par, on Tuesday to lead the Runnin' Bulldogs. Smith led the tournament field in birdies with 12 and in par 4 scoring average with an average of 3.63, -6 under par.
Also placing in the top-10 was Hellyer, as the junior carded rounds of 74 and 69 to finish in seventh-place overall with a two-round combined score of 143, -1 under par. Like Smith, Hellyer was one of only five golfers to break 70 on Tuesday. Hellyer totaled nine birdies and posted a par 4 scoring average of 3.88, -2 under par, for the two-day event.
Fellow junior Meghan Allum turned in rounds of 76 and 73 to finish in an 11-way tie for 31st-place overall with a combined score of 149, +5.
Rounding out the scoring for the Runnin' Bulldogs at the Great Smokies Intercollegiate was junior Sammy Vass and senior Courtney Finocchiaro. Vass bounced back from a first round 79, +7, on Monday to shoot a second round score of 73, +1, on Tuesday and finish in a tie for 56th-place overall with a combined score of 152, +8. Finocchiaro, who like Smith recorded an eagle for the tournament, turned in rounds of 83 and 78 to finish with a score of 161, +17.
The Runnin' Bulldogs second round team score of 282, -6 under par, moved them from ninth-place all the way to third-place for the event, where GWU tied with the Spartans of UNC Greensboro at 583, +7.
Eastern Kentucky won the event with an even score of 576, finishing four strokes ahead of second-place finisher and host Western Carolina who shot a team score of 580, +4.
The Gardner-Webb women's golf team will return to action in two weeks, as the Runnin' Bulldogs will compete at the UNC Greensboro Starmount Women's Intercollegiate on October 2-4th.
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| Final Results |
