Smith goes low in opening round at Old Dominion

Friday, October 4

Virginia Beach, VA

All Day

Middle Tennessee

Princess Anne Invitational

10/4/2019 2:58:00 PM | Women's Golf

By: @MTAthletics

Round 1 Results
Round 2 Pairings

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Middle Tennessee Women's Golf battled back after a slow start on day one of the Princess Anne Invitational, finishing the day at 12-over par (292) despite sitting 10-over par as the team made the turn on day one.

Sophomore Madison Smith and junior Sophie Burks led the late charge, each posting under par marks on the back nine of the opening round as the Blue Raiders concluded the day 16 strokes off the pace and just six strokes back of fourth place.

"We started a little rough today, but managed to steady the ship a little at the end," Head Coach Chris Adams said. "Madison played great today and I'm very proud of her and Sophie hit the ball well and finished strong as well."

Smith is currently tied for sixth in the field of 82 golfers after shooting a 1-under par 69 on the day, a round that marks a career low for the Union, Ky., native.

Burks is not far behind, posting a 1-over 71 on Friday that places her tied for 18^th with 36 holes remaining at Princess Anne Country Club.

Sophomore Catherine Caudill carded a 5-over par 75 on day one while junior Caroline Caudill and freshman Molly Bebelaar each turned in 7-over par 77 scorecards to open the tournament.

Junior Savannah Quick, competing as an individual, shot 15-over par in Friday's opening round.

"The wind kicked up a little today and it is a tight course, but we just need to manage our shots a little better to score better the rest of the way," Adams added. "We are just a handful of shots away from moving up and we are going to go into tomorrow with a positive attitude and see what happens."

The Blue Raiders will look to make a move on Saturday with Bebelaar leading off at 9:06 a.m. ET.

The rookie will be followed by Caroline Caudill, Catherine Caudill, Burks and Smith in 11-minute intervals as MT tees off alongside South Florida (+13) and UTSA (+11).

Live scoring for Saturday's round can be followed at Golfstat.com.

For all the latest information on Middle Tennessee Women's Golf, follow the #BlueRaiders on Facebook (@MTWomensGolf), Twitter (@MT_WGolf) and Instagram (MT_WGolf).