University of Tennessee Athletics
Sunday, April 7
Sunset, SC
All Day
University of Tennessee
at
Clemson Invitational
Smith and Williams in Contention After Round One of Clemson Invitational
April 07, 2019 | Women's Golf
Both players carded rounds in the 60s and sit in the top 10 on the individual leaderboard after 18 holes of play
SUNSET, S.C. – University of Tennessee women's golf team completed the first round of the Clemson Invitational.
Junior Micheala Williams and sophomore Mariah Smith are right back in the hunt for their second individual title of the spring after both carding opening rounds in the 60s on Sunday.
Smith, who competed in the Augusta National Women's Amateur earlier this week, is playing as an individual this week. The Clarksville, Tenn. native had a quick start to the day with birdies on the first two holes of the round.
By the turn, Smith had carded two more birdies on No. 7 and No. 8 to be 4-under-par at the turn. She would be as low as 5-under in her round after another birdie on the par-5 fifth before finishing the first round with a 68 (-4).
She enters Monday tied for second on the individual leaderboard and is just two shots off leader Julie McCarthy of Auburn who is currently ranked as the No. 4 player in the country according to Golfstat.
Williams, who picked up her first tournament win last month at the Florida Gators Invitational, is just one stroke back of Smith at 3-under-par and tied for seventh. The junior fired a bogey-free opening round while finding three birdies at the turn.
She carded birdies on No. 9, No. 10 and No. 11 to help her to her sixth round in the 60s this spring and seventh overall this season. She leads the team in that category while also leading the team in stroke average, rounds of par or better and top 10 finishes.
Her Sunday round helped her in all three of those categories as she moves her spring stroke average to 70.75 while looking for her third straight top-10 finish and fourth overall this spring.
Sophomore Waverly Whiston joins them in the top 25 after turning in an opening round 72 (E). She was 3-under on the front nine with birdies at No. 4, No. 7 and No. 8.
Tennessee enters the second round of the competition tied for 12 on the team leaderboard with No. 17 Virginia. The Lady Vols turned in an opening round 292 (+4) and are just six strokes back of fifth place entering Monday's round.
Tennessee will tee off the second round tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Lady Vols will be paired with Texas A&M (E), Kentucky (+3) and Michigan State (+3) who are in nine and tied for 10th, respectively.
Coach's Take
On the play of Micheala Williams this spring:
"Micheala has been playing and scoring so well this spring. It's a huge benefit to have a solid number one player that you can count on to play well day in and day out." – Coach Judi Pavon
On how this tournament and field helps prepare the team for the SEC Championships:
"This course has several holes that are similar to Greystone and it has some elevation changes similar to that course. The field has also been traditionally strong, so it's a good solid tournament to get us prepared for SEC. We have had a lot of similarities in the last few tournaments where we just haven't been able to get all five to score well at the same time. We are close to putting it all together." – Coach Judi Pavon
On how playing in the Augusta National Women's Amateur helped Mariah Smith today:
" She just competed against the best players in the world and played two really hard golf courses. So, this course looked a little bit easier to her and she took advantage of that feeling and played well. She chipped in on the first hole and made some other good birdie putts." – Coach Judi Pavon
Day One Scores:
Team
Tennessee Team
Tennessee Individual
Junior Micheala Williams and sophomore Mariah Smith are right back in the hunt for their second individual title of the spring after both carding opening rounds in the 60s on Sunday.
Smith, who competed in the Augusta National Women's Amateur earlier this week, is playing as an individual this week. The Clarksville, Tenn. native had a quick start to the day with birdies on the first two holes of the round.
By the turn, Smith had carded two more birdies on No. 7 and No. 8 to be 4-under-par at the turn. She would be as low as 5-under in her round after another birdie on the par-5 fifth before finishing the first round with a 68 (-4).
She enters Monday tied for second on the individual leaderboard and is just two shots off leader Julie McCarthy of Auburn who is currently ranked as the No. 4 player in the country according to Golfstat.
Williams, who picked up her first tournament win last month at the Florida Gators Invitational, is just one stroke back of Smith at 3-under-par and tied for seventh. The junior fired a bogey-free opening round while finding three birdies at the turn.
She carded birdies on No. 9, No. 10 and No. 11 to help her to her sixth round in the 60s this spring and seventh overall this season. She leads the team in that category while also leading the team in stroke average, rounds of par or better and top 10 finishes.
Her Sunday round helped her in all three of those categories as she moves her spring stroke average to 70.75 while looking for her third straight top-10 finish and fourth overall this spring.
Sophomore Waverly Whiston joins them in the top 25 after turning in an opening round 72 (E). She was 3-under on the front nine with birdies at No. 4, No. 7 and No. 8.
Tennessee enters the second round of the competition tied for 12 on the team leaderboard with No. 17 Virginia. The Lady Vols turned in an opening round 292 (+4) and are just six strokes back of fifth place entering Monday's round.
Tennessee will tee off the second round tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Lady Vols will be paired with Texas A&M (E), Kentucky (+3) and Michigan State (+3) who are in nine and tied for 10th, respectively.
Coach's Take
On the play of Micheala Williams this spring:
"Micheala has been playing and scoring so well this spring. It's a huge benefit to have a solid number one player that you can count on to play well day in and day out." – Coach Judi Pavon
On how this tournament and field helps prepare the team for the SEC Championships:
"This course has several holes that are similar to Greystone and it has some elevation changes similar to that course. The field has also been traditionally strong, so it's a good solid tournament to get us prepared for SEC. We have had a lot of similarities in the last few tournaments where we just haven't been able to get all five to score well at the same time. We are close to putting it all together." – Coach Judi Pavon
On how playing in the Augusta National Women's Amateur helped Mariah Smith today:
" She just competed against the best players in the world and played two really hard golf courses. So, this course looked a little bit easier to her and she took advantage of that feeling and played well. She chipped in on the first hole and made some other good birdie putts." – Coach Judi Pavon
Day One Scores:
Team
| T1 | Aubrun | -10 (278) |
| T1 | Vanderbilt | -10 (278) |
| 3 | Illinois | -5 (283) |
| 4 | Virginia Tech | -3 (285) |
| T5 | Purdue | -2 (286) |
| T5 | Clemson | -2 (286) |
| T7 | Florida State | -1 (287) |
| T7 | LSU | -1 (287) |
| 9 | Texas A&M | E (288) |
| T10 | Kentucky | +3 (291) |
| T10 | Michigan State | +3 (291) |
| T12 | Tennessee | +4 (292) |
| T12 | Virginia | +4 (292) |
| T14 | Tulane | +5 (293) |
| T14 | Augusta | +5 (293) |
| 16 | Indiana | +6 (294) |
| 17 | UNC-Wilmington | +7 (295) |
| 18 | Kansas | +15 (303) |
Tennessee Team
| Micheala Williams | T7 | 69 (-3) |
| Waverly Whiston | T25 | 72 (E) |
| Mikayla Bardwell | T67 | 75 (+3) |
| Ariana Macioce | T80 | 75 (+4) |
| Malia Stovall | T80 | 75 (+4) |
Tennessee Individual
| Mariah Smith | T2 | 68 (-4) |
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
WGolf | Diana Cantú | NCAA Championships - Round Three (5.18.25)
Sunday, May 18
WGolf | Bailey Davis | NCAA Championships - Round One (5.16.25)
Friday, May 16
WGolf | Diana Cantú | NCAA Championships - Round One (5.16.25)
Friday, May 16
WGolf | Diana Cantú Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Round One (10.20.24)
Sunday, October 20
