MONROE, N.C. - Paced by sophomore Riley Lovorn's 7-over-par 79, the Anderson women's golf team is tied for eighth alongside Tusculum following first-round action at the 2016 South Atlantic Conference Championship. The three-day tourney is being hosted by Wingate at the Monroe Country Club, with a par-72, 5,981-yard layout.
Looking for its second consecutive SAC title, Carson-Newman is tied with Lincoln Memorial atop the scoreboard after both teams carded 312s in the first round. LMU is looking for its first conference championship, while the Eagles are seeking their fourth league title overall and second since 2011.
Queens University of Charlotte and the host Bulldogs share third place after Sunday's first round and are eight shots off the pace. Wingate has won the championship three times (2002, 2008 and 2014), while the Royals are relative newcomers to the conference. Newberry (325) is alone in fifth, with Coker (330) in sixth and Lenoir-Rhyne (331) holding the seventh slot.
Anderson and Tusculum are just one shot behind L-R and trail Coker by two strokes after posting identical 332s on the day. Mars Hill (352) and Brevard (359) round out the 11-team field.
With no golfer breaking par on the day, Carson-Newman's Taylor Hayes (72) leads the chase for individual medalist honors by two shots over LMU's Lise Malherbe (74) and three strokes over the Lady Railsplitters' Michaela Conway, who carded a 75 after competing as an individual in the lineup. Five additional golfers are just four shots off the pace, with four more within six strokes entering Tuesday's second round.
Lovorn is in a three-way tie for 13th after carding a pair of birdies and notching nine pars on the day. Senior Braiden Furtick and freshman Makalyn Poole share an eight-way tie for 30th after opening-round 84s. Poole led the Trojans by reaching par on 11 holes on the day, which was third-highest in the field.
Freshman Blake Hodges is tied for 38th after carding an 85, with fellow freshman Tiffany Elam rounding out the Black and Gold contingent in a tie for 47th after posting an 87.
The second round of the three-day tournament is slated to start at 8:30 a.m. Monday, with Elam leading off for the Trojans at 9:15 a.m.
Notables
At the conclusion of the opening round, the league's coaches recognized Furtick with the Bob Dibble "Spirit of the Game" Award, which is named in honor of the long-time Tusculum coach and is selected by the league's women's golf coaches. The award recognizes the SAC women's golf team member that demonstrates a genuine love of the game, outstanding character, leadership and places team before self.
Bob Dibble "Spirit of the Game" Award Recipients
2008-2009 Susanne Sisco
2011-2012 Jillian Corum
2013-2014 Sara Howard
2014-2015 Calley Lawson
2015-2016 Braiden Furtick
T8 Anderson 332
T13 Riley Lovorn 79 79
T30 Makalyn Poole 84 84
T30 Braiden Furtick 84 84
T38 Blake Hodges 85 85
T47 Tiffany Elam 87 87
1 Team Scores
T1 Lincoln Memorial 312 +24
T1 Carson-Newman 312 +24
T3 Queen's, Univ. of Charlotte 320 +32
T3 Wingate 320 +32
5 Newberry College 325 +37
6 Coker College 330 +42
7 Lenoir-Rhyne 331 +43
T8 Tusculum College 332 +44
T8 Anderson 332 +44
10 Mars Hill College 352 +64
11 Brevard College 359 +71
