SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. - Paced by sophomore Garyt Hamilton's 17-over-par 89, the Anderson University women's golf team is in ninth place after first-round action on Sunday at the three-day 2014 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Championship, hosted at the 5,816-yard, par-72 Sevierville Golf Club in Sevierville, Tenn.
Wingate (325) leads the 11-team field by five strokes over league-newcomer Coker (330), while Tusculum (334) trails the Cobras by four shots. Carson-Newman is fourth following an opening-round 339, with Newberry (340) and Catawba (340) just behind in fifth. Queens (341) is one shot further back, with LMU (349) in eighth and Anderson (369) in ninth. Mars Hill (374) and Lenoir-Rhyne (379) are 10th and 11th, respectively.
Wingate's Johanna Neumann and Coker's Taylor Dembry are tied atop the individual leaderboard after each fired an opening-round 5-over-par 77 and lead a trio of golfers - LMU's Sydney Gallant, Queens' Grace Glaze and Catawba's Madison Kennedy - by three shots.
Hamilton notched a birdie on the par-4 fifth hole and is alone in 35th, while senior Katie Eskew is three shots further back in 39th after carding a first-round 92. Juniors Natalie Feder and Sarah Timms share 48th after an opening- round 94, while sophomore Braiden Furtick notched a 101 to round out the Trojan contingent.
The tourney's second round is slated to get underway at 8:30 a.m. Monday.
