University of Tennessee Athletics
Monday, October 5
Fayetteville, AR | Blessings Golf Club
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The Blessings Collegiate
Lady Vols Sit in Tie for Seventh After Day One of Blessings Collegiate
October 05, 2020 | Women's Golf
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Three scores in the 70's and two Lady Vols inside the top-15, see the Tennessee women's golf team in a tie for seventh place (+16, 304) following day one of The Blessings Collegiate Invitational.
The first tournament of the new season brought with it, the challenge of a new format that saw all five Tennessee athletes playing together in the same group in a tournament for the first time.
"It was interesting playing with five today," head coach Judi Pavon said. "The girls have never seen each other play under the pressure of competition, but they handled it really well and everyone did a good job of encouraging each other and just playing their game."
Junior Mikayla Bardwell led the way for UT, carding a +1 73 placing her in a tie for ninth place. Bardwell came roaring out of the gates, birdying four of her first six holes.
A few hiccups just before the turn, put her at +2 at the close of the front nine. Bardwell recovered well, posting a mark of -1 (35) heading back into the clubhouse.
Freshman Vanessa Gilly posted the most consistent card for the Lady Vols in her collegiate debut. The Caracas, Venezuela native finished the day with three birdies and fired home a score of +2 (74) to sit just behind Bardwell in a tie for 12th.
"Vanessa was solid all day," Pavon continued. "She hit a lot of good shots and did a great job with her speed around the greens. She also made a couple of unbelievable up-and-downs to really keep her in the round."
Graduate student Micheala Williams was the third Lady Vol to post a score in the 70's with a +5 score of 77. After an up-and-down front side that saw her at +5 through nine holes, Williams recovered well to post an even par score of 36 on the back nine.
Sophomore Nicole Whiston rounded out UT's scoring lineup with score of +8 (80).
Heading into tomorrow, the Orange & White still have work to do, to get back into contention to put themselves in a favorable position for Wednesday's final round.
"We had a bunch of big numbers today which add up quickly and are hard to recover from," Pavon said. "We need to clean those up and just figure out how to make bogeys, which I think will help us move back up the leaderboard."
Individual Scores
T9. Mikayla Bardwell, +1 (73)
T12. Vanessa Gilly, +2 (74)
T32. Micheala Williams, +5 (77)
T49. Nicole Whiston, +8 (80)
T57. Waverly Whiston, +10 (82)
Team Scores
1. Arkansas, +1 (289)
2. LSU, +5 (293)
3. Florida, +7 (295)
T-4. Georgia, +12 (300)
T-4. Auburn, +12 (300)
6. Ole Miss, +14 (302)
T-7. South Carolina, +16 (304)
T-7. Tennessee, +16 (304)
T-9. Texas A&M, +19 (307)
T-9. Alabama, +19 (307)
11. Vanderbilt, +26 (314)
12. Kentucky, +26 (314)
13. Mississippi State, +29 (317)
14. Missouri, +42 (330)
Tee Times
Tuesday, Oct. 6 – Second Round 11:36 a.m. ET – Moved up 30 minutes.
Wednesday, Oct. 7 – Third Round TBA
The first tournament of the new season brought with it, the challenge of a new format that saw all five Tennessee athletes playing together in the same group in a tournament for the first time.
"It was interesting playing with five today," head coach Judi Pavon said. "The girls have never seen each other play under the pressure of competition, but they handled it really well and everyone did a good job of encouraging each other and just playing their game."
Junior Mikayla Bardwell led the way for UT, carding a +1 73 placing her in a tie for ninth place. Bardwell came roaring out of the gates, birdying four of her first six holes.
A few hiccups just before the turn, put her at +2 at the close of the front nine. Bardwell recovered well, posting a mark of -1 (35) heading back into the clubhouse.
Freshman Vanessa Gilly posted the most consistent card for the Lady Vols in her collegiate debut. The Caracas, Venezuela native finished the day with three birdies and fired home a score of +2 (74) to sit just behind Bardwell in a tie for 12th.
"Vanessa was solid all day," Pavon continued. "She hit a lot of good shots and did a great job with her speed around the greens. She also made a couple of unbelievable up-and-downs to really keep her in the round."
Graduate student Micheala Williams was the third Lady Vol to post a score in the 70's with a +5 score of 77. After an up-and-down front side that saw her at +5 through nine holes, Williams recovered well to post an even par score of 36 on the back nine.
Sophomore Nicole Whiston rounded out UT's scoring lineup with score of +8 (80).
Heading into tomorrow, the Orange & White still have work to do, to get back into contention to put themselves in a favorable position for Wednesday's final round.
"We had a bunch of big numbers today which add up quickly and are hard to recover from," Pavon said. "We need to clean those up and just figure out how to make bogeys, which I think will help us move back up the leaderboard."
Individual Scores
T9. Mikayla Bardwell, +1 (73)
T12. Vanessa Gilly, +2 (74)
T32. Micheala Williams, +5 (77)
T49. Nicole Whiston, +8 (80)
T57. Waverly Whiston, +10 (82)
Team Scores
1. Arkansas, +1 (289)
2. LSU, +5 (293)
3. Florida, +7 (295)
T-4. Georgia, +12 (300)
T-4. Auburn, +12 (300)
6. Ole Miss, +14 (302)
T-7. South Carolina, +16 (304)
T-7. Tennessee, +16 (304)
T-9. Texas A&M, +19 (307)
T-9. Alabama, +19 (307)
11. Vanderbilt, +26 (314)
12. Kentucky, +26 (314)
13. Mississippi State, +29 (317)
14. Missouri, +42 (330)
Tee Times
Tuesday, Oct. 6 – Second Round 11:36 a.m. ET – Moved up 30 minutes.
Wednesday, Oct. 7 – Third Round TBA
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
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