Bardwell's Career Day Leads Lady Vols Through Round Two of The Ally

Tuesday, October 20

Starkville, MS | Old Waverly Golf Course

University of Tennessee

The Ally at Old Waverly

Photo by: Caleb Jones/Tennessee Athletics

Bardwell's Career Day Leads Lady Vols Through Round Two of The Ally

October 20, 2020 | Women's Golf

Results

STARKVILLE, Miss. – A program record tying round of 64 from junior Mikayla Bardwell and an impressive 3-under round of 69 from freshman Vanessa Gilly, has the Tennessee women's golf team in second place at 6-under (290, 280, 570) after the second round of The Ally at Old Waverly.

"I knew I was capable of a really low round, so it feels really cool to tie the program record," Bardwell said. "I honestly didn't know that was the record and now my goal is to try to break it!"

The Lady Vols day two team score of 280 is the eighth-lowest single round team score in program history, while the Orange & White's two-day score of 570, ranks in a tie for 10th all-time.

"We had two really good rounds today and got solid play from our scores at three and four," head coach Judi Pavon said. "To compete tomorrow we will need all five players to play well."

Bardwell's round of 64 (-8) is also her career-low and places her as the tournament leader heading into tomorrow's final round. Her scorecard was nearly unblemished, as the Lewisville, Texas native rolled in nine birdies and carded just a single bogey.

"Today I did a really good job of staying in it mentally. In the past, I've gotten under par and allowed mistakes to carrt forward," Bardwell said. "But today I fought hard and didn't allow my mistakes to affect me. I knew going into the tournament that my game was good and today I hit it really good. Towards the end, all of my putts were just dropping."

"Mikayla was really solid today. She played well yesterday, but lost some shots coming in, so she was really determined to finish her round today," Pavon said. "She made three really awesome putts on the last three holes to really make it an unbelievable round."

Gilly's round of 69 (-3) was also a career low, marking her first round in the 60s, her second consecutive round at par or better and places her in a tie for fifth.

After stumbling towards the end of the front nine—finishing with a 2-over par score of 38—Gilly responded with a birdie on the par five 10th, before knocking in an eagle on the par four 13th and going 4-under on her final six holes.

"Vanessa had a great back nine today, especially after making a bogey on eight and a double bogey on nine," Pavon said.

Graduate student Micheala Williams followed Gilly's impressive round with a score of 1-over, 73. After a 2-under day on Monday, Williams finds herself in a tie for 14th ahead of the tournament's final day.

After a rough opening day, sophomore Nicole Whiston posted a 2-over par round of 74 to round out the UT scoring lineup. Whiston sits in a tie for 64th with a two-day total of +12 (156).

Individual Scores
1. Mikayla Bardwell, -8 (72, 64, 136)
T-5. Vanessa Gilly, -4 (71, 69, 140)
T-14. Micheala Williams, (70, 73, 143)
T-60. Waverly Whiston, (77, 78, 155)
T-64. Nicole Whiston, (82, 74, 156)

Team Scores
1. South Carolina, -8 (287, 281, 568)
2. Tennessee, -6 (290, 280, 570)
3. LSU, -4 (288, 284, 572)
4. Ole Miss, -1 (284, 291, 575)
5. Auburn, +1 (283, 294, 577)
6. Alabama, +3 (294, 285, 579)
7. Florida, +5 (280, 301, 581)
8. Georgia, +6 (297, 285, 582)
9. Arkansas, +7 (294, 289, 583)
10. Vanderbilt, +10 (297, 289, 586)
11. Mississippi State, +16 (293, 299, 592)
12. Kentucky, +20 (302, 294, 596)
13. Texas A&M, +29 (306, 299, 605)
14. Missouri, +30 (299, 307, 606)
15. Southern Miss, +53 (318, 311, 629)

Tee Times
Wednesday, Oct. 21 – Third Round – 9:30 a.m. ET Shotgun Start