Raiders struggle in round one at Old Waverly

Sunday, October 14

West Point, MS

All Day

Middle Tennessee

Magnolia Invitational

10/14/2018 5:30:00 PM | Women's Golf

By: @MTAthletics

Round 1 Results

WEST POINT, Miss. – For the first time this season, the Blue Raider women's golf team showed signs of struggle on Sunday in the first round of the Magnolia Invitational.

Middle Tennessee fell into last place late in the day before a strong recovery in which they went 3-under par on the last two holes saw the squad climb into a tie for 12^th place at 20-over par 308.

Despite the tough round, the Blue Raiders are just nine strokes away from moving back into the top half of the field.

MT is certainly capable of making such a move, as Head Coach Chris Adams guided her team to a similar comeback at the Mason Rudolph Championship where the Raiders moved from last to a tie for sixth over the course of a round and a half before rain and lightning cut the final round short at Vanderbilt Legends Club.

Sophomore Sophie Burks' birdies on 17 and 18 along with senior Kailey Collier's birdie on 18 provided the late spark for the Blue Raiders while freshman Catherine Caudill turned in the low round for MT on day one at 4-over par 76.

Middle Tennessee will tee off Monday on the 10th hole beginning at 9:20 a.m. Senior Hanley Long will lead off followed by Caroline Caudill, Collier, Burks and Catherine Caudill. Live scoring can be followed at Golfstat.com.

NOTABLES

The Blue Raiders are a likely candidate to bounce back in rounds two and three as the 308 posted in round one is the highest scorecard of the year for the team and only its third round over 300 this season
In her first round in the Blue Raider lineup, senior Kailey Collier both started and finished her round with birdies on holes 10 and 9
With birdies on three of four Par 5 holes Sunday, Collier is tied for 10^th in the field in Par 5 Scoring (-2, 4.50)
Middle Tennessee ranked fifth in the field of 14 teams in total pars (54) on day one, but its nine total birdies ranked tied for 10th

QUOTABLES
"It was a tough day for us today. We just had a couple of bad swings that led to big numbers that we have to correct. We got down mentally and it was a struggle after that. We are just going to focus on the positives and come out tomorrow with our heads up, play it one shot at a time and only worry about ourselves." – Head Coach Chris Adams