University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
NCAA Championship
Lady Vol Golf in Fourth at NCAAs
May 24, 2015 | Women's Golf
BRADENTON, Fla. -- On the third day of the 2015 NCAA Women's Golf Championship, second round play was completed, third round play was delayed 55 minutes and then play was halted for darkness at 8:21 p.m. (ET). With two to five holes remaining, the No. 12 Tennessee women's golf team currently sits in fourth place at 43-over par.
Head Coach Judi Pavon's Lady Volunteers had two to four holes to finish from Saturday's second round. In strong wind conditions, the team posted a second round 309 (+21). After completion, the team's third round tee time was set for 2:30 p.m. (ET). It ended up being pushed back to 3:15 p.m. (ET).
After a tough finish to the second round, Pavon and Assistant Coach Chris Griffin made changes to their strategy heading to the third round, and it paid off. Sophomore Emmie Pietila was 18-over entering the third round. She went on to shoot 1-over on the front, and 2-under on the back before play was halted following a tap in for par on the par-4 16th. She currently sits tied for 57th place at 17-over par and will enter Monday with two holes remaining in her third round.
"Emmie has played really solid," said Pavon of Emmie's third round play. "I knew that she was capable of playing this golf course well, and I had Chris (Griffin) walk with her today just to help get off the tees better. I knew if she could just be in play off the tees, she would play well. They're doing a great job and she now just has two holes left. She's gotten through most of the hard stuff, so hopefully she'll finish that round off strong tomorrow as well."
Senior AJ Newell wrapped up her second round by matching her first round score of 73 (+1). Newell was even through her first five holes of the third round, placing her in a tie for second place at 2-over par. Her round was full of ups and downs, including three birdies, two bogeys and two double bogeys. She currently sits tied for eighth at 5-over par and will resume the third round on the par-4 14th. Freshman Anna Newell finished her second round 7-over par. She began the third round with a bogey on the first, but bounced back with a birdie on the third. A bogey on the fourth gave it back, but she recorded ten straight pars from that point on. She will resume her third round on the par-4 15th in a tie for 30th place at 11-over par.
Sophomore Hannah Pietila closed out her second round 8-over par. Pietila began her third round by going par, par and birdie on the par-5 third. She made the turn 2-over par, but recorded two doubles on the back side. She will resume her third round on the par-4 15th in a tie for 50th at 15-over par. Fellow sophomore Lucia Polo finished her second round 5-over par. She has one birdie during her third round, but four double bogeys as well. Polo will resume her third round on the par-4 16th in a tie for 85th place at 22-over par.
Overall, Pavon was pleased with the way her team performed on Sunday.
"Today was solid," Pavon said. "We made a few mistakes that I wish we wouldn't have, but that's going to happen on this golf course. All in all, they looked pretty good. We just need to finish it off when we come out tomorrow morning. "
After completing 13-16 holes, Southern California currently leads at 28-over par. Arizona is the leader from the teams completing their third round, but currently sits in third place at 41-over par. Alabama's Emma Talley is the individual leader at even par.
On Sunday, Tennessee will finish the third round beginning at 7:30 a.m. (ET). After completion of the third round, the tournament will be cut from 24 teams to 15 teams. Once the cut is made, the fourth round is slated to begin at 10:50 a.m. (ET). Golf Channel coverage will begin at 4:00 p.m. (ET).
For a full leaderboard rundown, Click Here.
Volunteer fans can continue to keep up with the team by following @LadyVol_Golf on Twitter.
| TEAM SCORES (Partial Third Round) | ||
| 1. | Southern California | 297-303 - Thru 13-16 (+28) |
| 2. | Duke | 293-309 - Thru 13-16 (+31) |
| 3. | Arizona | 300-311-294--905 (+41) |
| 4. | Tennessee | 301-309 - Thru 13-16 (+43) |
| 5. | Baylor | 297-307-306--910 (+46) |
| 6. | Purdue | 307-302-302--911 (+47) |
| 7. | Stanford | 293-323-296--912 (+48) |
| 8. | Washington | 301-316-297--914 (+50) |
| 9. | UC Davis | 305-304-306--915 (+51) |
| 10. | Northwestern | 310-301-305--916 (+52) |
| 11. | Arkansas | 310-306-303--919 (+55) |
| 12. | Texas Tech | 319-294-307--920 (+56) |
| 13. | South Carolina | 308-322 - Thru 13-18 (+59) |
| 14. | Wake Forest | 310-320 - Thru 13-18 (+60) |
| 15. | Alabama | 310-307-310--927 (+63) |
| 16. | UCLA | 319-318 - Thru 13-18 (+64) |
| 17. | UNLV | 305-324-302--931 (+67) |
| 18. | Texas A&M | 309-312-312--933 (+69) |
| 19. | Tulane | 314-309-312--935 (+71) |
| T-20. | Virginia | 309-319-310--938 (+74) |
| T-20. | LSU | 309-316-313--938 (+74) |
| 22. | NC State | 317-323-302--942 (+78) |
| 23. | Campbell | 315-311-324--626 (+86) |
| 24. | California | 321-320-312--953 (+89) |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS (Partial Third Round) | ||
| 1. | Emma Talley, Alabama | 70-73-73--216 (E) |
| 2. | Monica Vaughn, Arizona State | 75-71 - Thru 17 (+1) |
| 3. | Annie Park, Southern California | 70-76 - Thru 13 (+2) |
| UT SCORES (Partial Third Round) | ||
| T-8. | AJ Newell | 73-73 - Thru 13 (+5) |
| T-30. | Anna Newell | 75-79 - Thru 14 (+11) |
| T-50. | Hannah Pietila | 73-80 - Thru 14 (+15) |
| T-57. | Emmie Pietila | 81-81 - Thru 16 (+17) |
| T-85. | Lucia Polo | 80-77 - Thru 15 (+22) |
