Austin Peay Lady Govs Golf finishes fifth at OVC Championships

APSU Sports: Austin Peay Women’s Golf

Dickson, TN – Austin Peay State University started fifth and ended fifth at the Ohio Valley Conference Women’s Golf Championships, held Sunday-Tuesday, at the GreyStone Golf Club.

The Lady Govs, who were third after Sunday’s first round and remained that way after round two, finished up in fifth, Tuesday, shooting a final-round 327 for a 967 total.

Jacksonville State won the event, adding on to their five-stroke lead heading into the final round, with a final-round 300 score to finish at 910. As a result, the Gamecocks easily pulled away from second-place Morehead State (923) and Murray State (928), who were tied for second after Day 2.

Eastern Kentucky finished fourth (942) while Tennessee Tech ended sixth (978) and Eastern Illinois seventh (985).

Redshirt sophomore Tabitha Beard, in her first OVC tournament, led the Lady Govs, shooting a trio of sub-80 rounds including a final-round 79 for a 233 total, tying her for eighth-place.

“I am really proud of Tabitha,” APSU coach Sara Robson said. “To gain a Top 10 finish in her first OVC tournament, that is quite an accomplishment.

“She shot three rounds below 80—that was her goal. She has done that for a seven straight rounds.  I told her now her new goal needs to be 76.”

Beard, however, was the only Lady Govs to break 80, Tuesday.  Junior Holly Batey bounced back from Monday’s 91 to shoot an 81. Sophomore Rachel Deaton, battling an illness over the last two rounds, finished with an 83 while junior Lauren Bond’s chance at a solid round blew up on No. 12 when she recorded an eight. As a result, she finished with an 84 while sophomore Tala Mumford carded an 88.

“Our mentality going out today was that everyone break 8,” Robson said. “We certainly are talented enough and capable.

“But mentally we made some mistakes. You are going to hit bad shots, things you can’t necessarily control.  But the things you can control, we didn’t. Our tempo inside 50 yards and was not good. At this point of the year, we should be able to control wedge shots and speed of the greens. We did not.”

Bond had APSU’s second-lowest three-round score with a 244 followed by Deaton (248), Batey (251) and Mumford (254). The Lady Govs had three sub-80 rounds on the first day, but only had three more—two by Beard—the last two days.

Although disappointed in the Lady Govs performance, Tuesday, Robson is optimistic about the team’s future.

“Everyone who played in the tournament for us was an underclassman,” Robson said. “It also was the first OVC tournament for four of the five.

“All of our players got a chance to play in a lot of tournaments this year and that experience will pay off in the future.

“Right now, we need our girls to get away from golf for a few days, get (their injuries) healed and finish up the semester and finals strong.”

OVC Women’s Golf Tournament – Final

1	2	Team	R 1	R 2	R 3	Scores	Par
1	1	Jacksonville State	296	314	300	910	+46
2	T 2	Morehead State	299	308	308	923	+59
3	T 2	Murray State	307	316	313	928	+64
4	4	Eastern Kentucky	310	310	322	942	+78
5	5	Austin Peay State	316	324	327	967	+103
T 6	6	Tennessee Tech	330	322	326	978	+114
T 6	7	Eastern Illinois	330	337	318	985	+121

 

Position	School – Players	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Total
5	Austin Peay State University	316	324	327	967
10	Tabitha Beard (2)	76	78	79	233
T 12	Lauren Bond (3)	83	77	84	244
T 18	Rachel Deaton (1)	84	81	83	248
27	Holly Batey (4)	79	91	81	251
T28	Tala Mumford (5)	78	88	88	254