– It was not the type of day that the Lee University women had hoped for in the second round of the NCAA South Regional being played at the Chattahoochee Golf Club. The Lady Flames slipped from a third-place tie after round one to the 11th position after Tuesday’s second day in the 54-hole event.
Lee tallied a 307 in the second round to go along with its 295 for a total of 602. Flagler College holds down first place (583) followed by Nova Southeastern University (584), Lynn University (590), the University of North Georgia (592) while Rollins College and Lander University round out the top five with identical 593 tallies.
After a rough start with three bogeys, sophomore Olivia Ireland led the way.
She had a birdie on the par 4 6th hole and then proceeded to record three pars on the front for a 38. Ireland had nine consecutive pars on the back and finished the round with a 2-over 74.
Haley Blevins was in the midst of a solid round, playing 1-under par until she ran into trouble with double bogeys on 17 and 18 to complete her round at 4-over 76.
Hannah Nall and Lehane Louis-Dumond both carded a 7-over 79. It was an extremely rugged front nine for Nall, who posted a 45. The determined junior came fighting back, as expected. She played 2-under par golf on the back side in regrouping for the hard-earned score.
It was a different story freshman Louis-Dumond. She was playing solid golf until posting a bogey and a pair of double-bogeys on the back to spoil her day. Banthita “Pearl” Phoncharatkun will want to forget about Tuesday and move onto Wednesday after her +10 82 did not count in the team’s final tally.
Millie Thompson of the University of West Florida, Kajsa Lindquist (Lander) and Henriette Standa (Flagler) are the medalist leaders with a two-day total of 142. Pennie Osterberg (Limestone University) is one back at 143 while four golfers are tied for fifth.
The Lee golfers will begin teeing off at 9:40 a.m. on Wednesday as they seek to make a comeback and earn a spot in the National Championship in Boulder City, Nevada.
Coach Geandra Almeida's Thoughts:
"It's pretty clear it was a bad day for us. Had a bad start right off the bat. We came back and had some momentum to be where we needed to be but the last three holes were a disaster again. We finished poorly and now we are in a tough position going into the final day."