University of Tennessee Athletics
Monday, September 17
Knoxville, TN
All Day
University of Tennessee
vs
Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship
Bardwell and Smith Boost Tennessee in Day One of Mercedes-Benz
September 17, 2018 | Women's Golf
Freshman Mikayla Bardwell and sophomore Mariah Smith land in top 10 on leaderboard as Lady Vols sit in fourth
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – University of Tennessee women's golf team sit in fourth place in the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship through 36 holes of play.
Led by freshman Mikayla Bardwell and sophomore Mariah Smith, the Lady Vols were able to cut four strokes off of their round one score. The team moved up two spots in the second round while Bardwell jumped eight spots and Smith leaped 17 positions.
Bardwell finished her opening round with five straight pars to card a 73 (+1). The Lewisville, Texas native continued that consistency in the second round, parring the first ten holes of the round. After finding a birdie on the par-5 18th, Bardwell parred holes 12 to 17. Sitting the just off the green, Bardwell pulled out her wedge and chipped it in off the green to finish 2-under in the round.
She sits even-par for the tournament and just one off the lead of Middle Tennessee State's Hanley Long.
Smith is just five shots off the overall lead at 4-over for the tournament. The sophomore nearly carded a bogey-free second round with the lone blemish coming on the par-3 10th. Her even-par round helped Tennessee pass up UT-San Antonio and Middle Tennessee as the Lady Vols enter the five shots off the lead of Charlotte.
Tennessee will be paired with Middle Tennessee and Illinois in the final round tomorrow with the shotgun start scheduled for 8:30 a.m. (ET). The Lady Vols will tee off of holes 4 to 6 tomorrow morning.
Coach's Take
On advantages of knowing the course while playing in tough conditions:
"We know what holes to be aware of. No. 4 is an extremely hard hole in good conditions and the teams we played with made some eights and nines there right at the beginning of their round. The girls are confident because they know what to hit off of the tees and where not to be out here. Although we didn't execute perfectly, we saved some shots by knowing the course." – Coach Judi Pavon
On the rounds of Bardwell and Smith:
"It's super exciting to have such a young group. To have a freshman leading the way and a sophomore, who didn't;t get to play in all of the tournaments last year, doing great. They are both competitive and determined golfers. When they made a mistake, they didn't blame the weather. They were just mad they made a mistake. They were looking to bounce back the whole time. They had fun out there and had great attitudes. Everyone had great attitudes today, even the girls who didn't play well today. I'm really proud of them for that. We knew it was going to rain for a week. It was no surprise. "-- Coach Judi Pavon
Scores Thru Round Two:
Team
Tennessee Individual
Individuals
Led by freshman Mikayla Bardwell and sophomore Mariah Smith, the Lady Vols were able to cut four strokes off of their round one score. The team moved up two spots in the second round while Bardwell jumped eight spots and Smith leaped 17 positions.
Bardwell finished her opening round with five straight pars to card a 73 (+1). The Lewisville, Texas native continued that consistency in the second round, parring the first ten holes of the round. After finding a birdie on the par-5 18th, Bardwell parred holes 12 to 17. Sitting the just off the green, Bardwell pulled out her wedge and chipped it in off the green to finish 2-under in the round.
She sits even-par for the tournament and just one off the lead of Middle Tennessee State's Hanley Long.
Smith is just five shots off the overall lead at 4-over for the tournament. The sophomore nearly carded a bogey-free second round with the lone blemish coming on the par-3 10th. Her even-par round helped Tennessee pass up UT-San Antonio and Middle Tennessee as the Lady Vols enter the five shots off the lead of Charlotte.
Tennessee will be paired with Middle Tennessee and Illinois in the final round tomorrow with the shotgun start scheduled for 8:30 a.m. (ET). The Lady Vols will tee off of holes 4 to 6 tomorrow morning.
Coach's Take
On advantages of knowing the course while playing in tough conditions:
"We know what holes to be aware of. No. 4 is an extremely hard hole in good conditions and the teams we played with made some eights and nines there right at the beginning of their round. The girls are confident because they know what to hit off of the tees and where not to be out here. Although we didn't execute perfectly, we saved some shots by knowing the course." – Coach Judi Pavon
On the rounds of Bardwell and Smith:
"It's super exciting to have such a young group. To have a freshman leading the way and a sophomore, who didn't;t get to play in all of the tournaments last year, doing great. They are both competitive and determined golfers. When they made a mistake, they didn't blame the weather. They were just mad they made a mistake. They were looking to bounce back the whole time. They had fun out there and had great attitudes. Everyone had great attitudes today, even the girls who didn't play well today. I'm really proud of them for that. We knew it was going to rain for a week. It was no surprise. "-- Coach Judi Pavon
Scores Thru Round Two:
Team
| 1 | Charlotte | +17 (585) |
| 2 | Kent State | +19 (587) |
| 3 | Maryland | +20 (588) |
| 4 | Tennessee | +22 (590) |
| 5 | Middle Tennessee | +23 (591) |
| 6 | Illinois | +24 (592) |
| 7 | Eastern Kentucky | +28 (596) |
| 8 | UT-San Antonio | +29 (597) |
| 9 | Kentucky | +34 (602) |
| 10 | East Tennessee | +36 (604) |
| T11 | UCF | +40 (608) |
| T11 | Coastal Carolina | +40 (608) |
| T11 | Ole Miss | +40 (608) |
| 14 | Chattanooga | +41 (609) |
| 15 | BYU | +42 (610) |
| 16 | South Dakota State | +49 (617) |
| 17 | Iowa | +56 (624) |
Tennessee Individual
| Mikayla Bardwell | T2 | 142 (E) |
| Mariah Smith | T8 | 146 (+4) |
| Waverly Whiston | T33 | 151 (+9) |
| Malia Stovall | T33 | 151 (+9) |
| Micheala Williams | T71 | 157 (+15) |
Individuals
| Haley Wagner | T42 | 152 (+10) |
| Allison Herring | T67 | 156 (+14) |
| Ariana Macioce | T85 | 161 (+19) |
| Hadley Walts | 92 | 175 (+33) |
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
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