The Chattanooga Mocs women’s golf team is tied for seventh with defending champion Penn State after 18 holes of the Mercedes-Benz Championship at Cherokee Country Club. UTC used a strong back nine to card an eight-over par 292.
The Mocs made the turn at 11-over par, but surged up the leaderboard behind a strong effort on holes 10-18 from Emily McLennan (Queensland, Australia) and Agathe Sauzon (Valence, France).
“That’s what they’re here to do,” Head Coach Colette Murray said. “Getting ‘Aggie’ back was crucial. Her birdie on nine set the tone for her back nine.
“Emily is a terrific player,” she added. “I think this is the start of things to come for her.”
The duo combined to shoot minus five on the second nine. McLennan shot 33 (-3) on the back side, while Sauzon turned in a 34 (-2). The 33 pushed McLennan into a tie for eighth at one-under 70.
“I was pleased with the kind of fight…the get-back we had on the back nine,” Murray continued. “It was a building block kind of day. I’d just like to see us get off to a better start tomorrow.
Sauzon’s 73 was one ahead of Isabella Loza (Bucaramanga, Colombia) who shot 74. Jordan Britt (Chattanooga) rounded out the counting scores with a 75. Mette Kryger (Nivaa, Denmark) had the drop score with a 77.
The Mocs and Nittany Lions are two shots out of sixth behind Tulane and one stroke clear of ninth-place Mississippi State. Ole Miss is another shot back in 10th.
South Carolina is in first-place at minus five (279). The Gamecocks lead second-place Arkansas by three at 282. Katelyn Dambaugh (South Carolina) and Fanny Cnops (UCF) are tied for first at three-under 68.
The Mocs start out Saturday’s second round at 8:30 a.m. Individual Porsche Campbell starts out followed by Kryger (8:40), Britt (8:50), Loza (9:00), Sauzon (9:10) and McLennan (9:20). Click the link above to access live scoring. UTC is paired with Penn State and Mississippi State.