Kiawah Island, SC – A slight uptick on Day Two at the Kiawah Island Classic has Austin Peay State University (APSU) women’s golf in position to defend its Flight Team title from a year ago with 18 holes to play.
The Govs carded a 307 as a group on Monday to take a 616 into the final day of competition; Austin Peay State University will enter the final round two shots behind UNC Greensboro in the Flight group, which will spend the final day at Oak Point Golf Club.
“I’m extremely proud of the way the girls battled all round at a course we had never seen before,” said APSU head coach Jessica Combs. “With the exception of Riley [Cooper], each girl was up and down during the day scrambling for pars, and for the most part, we came out on top!
“Riley was the rock we needed to and I’m so glad to her come back like that after yesterday’s round.”
Austin Peay State University’s success in Round Two had everything to do with the poise of senior Riley Cooper, who rallied back from a difficult opening-round 83 for one of the finest rounds any individual posted on Monday.
Cooper used 14 pars to record an even-par 72 on Monday; hers was one of just 21 round-two loops to end at par or better among the 210-competitor field.
Junior Shelby Darnell had a mid-round rally of her own; after opening at plus-six on the first six holes, including a near-disastrous double-bogey, triple-bogey combination at No. 5 and No. 6, she closed the front nine with three straight birdies and ultimately was two-under for her final 12 holes; she and Cooper enter the final round tied at 155 overall.
APSU’s leader going into the final 18 holes is junior Taylor Dedmen; the Plant City, Florida native was two-over with seven pars on Monday’s back-nine, giving her a 78 for the day and 152 overall with a chance to take home a top-40 finish in one of collegiate golf’s deepest fields. She’ll look to capitalize on her 2.89 par-3 stroke average over the first two rounds to make up ground on the final day.
“Shelby battled back from her triple with three birdies in a row,” Combs said. “Taylor also had a birdie after a triple. It takes a strong mental game to bounce back from that, which says a lot about our girls.”
Andrea Presilla (81) and Kady Foshaug (85) rounded out the day for the APSU Govs on Monday; they’ll enter play Tuesday tied at 161. Presilla sank one of just 14 Hole No. 1 birdies at Cougar Point in the second round.
The APSU Govs will tee off Hole No. 1 from Oak Point Golf Club, 8:00am, Tuesday, paired with Dayton and Radford on the final day of competition.
