APSU Women’s Golf
Lady Govs golf in 12th after first round
Germantown, TN – Weather conditions played havoc with scores, Monday, and Austin Peay State University finds itself in 12th place after the first round of the inaugural Memphis Invitational, being played at the Ridgeway Country Club.
Darkness prevented the tourney’s second round to be completed. Only Lady Govs’ No. 1 player Chelsea Harris (80-79) was able to complete both rounds.
Playing in extremely windy conditions, the Lady Govs shot a 330, 25 strokes higher than APSU’s final-round of the F&M Bank APSU Intercollegiate. Weather in another respect added to the Lady Govs difficulties.
“We were able to get in only four holes of our practice round (because of rain), Sunday,” APSU coach Sara Robson said. “The back nine (holes) is difficult to play if you have not seen it. There are things you just discover by just playing it.
“The back nine is where we started today and between that and the wind, we just dug ourselves a hole.”
In fact, no Lady Gov shot below 80 during the first round. In addition to Harris, junior Ashley Averitt also fired an 80, leaving that pair in a 30th-place tie. Rachel Deaton came in at 82 while fellow freshman Tala Mumford was at 88. Senior Ashley Wathen struggled to a 90.
“The girls hung in there—I have to give it to them,” Robson said. “They all had some problems on the back nine but started pulling it together on the front side.”
Host Memphis led after the first round at 305 on their home course while Mississippi State was in second at 307 followed by Missouri State (310) and Illinois (314) in the 17-team tournament.
The Lady Govs, led by Deaton, who was three over with three holes to play, hope the conclusion of Monday’s second round, weather permitting, will allow them to move up. She hopes the Lady Govs can finish in the tourney’s Top 10 before it concludes Tuesday.
“The conditions were tough today,” Robson said. “We started playing better in the second round. Rachel really had a great round going. Hopefully, she can finish it up with a few pars.”
