AU Women Five Shots Off Pace After First 18 Of Eagle Invite

For Ashland University's women's golf team, the first round of its Eagle Invitational on Saturday (Oct. 9) at the Ashland Golf Club was a welcome site.
 
Not just because the Eagles were playing at home, but because their first-round 335 puts them five shots off the pace heading into Sunday's (Oct. 10) second round.
 
"It's a good start," said Ashland head coach Bill Pollock. "It's much better looking down at the board than looking up at the board. We're within striking distance with our No. 1 team, and we got some career lows from our No. 2 team. It's a young team that's only going to get better."
 
Ashland is tied with Davenport for second, five shots behind first-round leader Ohio Dominican (330).
 
WHAT HAPPENED

• Freshman Emma Conway led the AU effort on Saturday, recording two birdies en route to a round of 81 – good for a tie for third place individually. Freshman Grace Grant (two birdies) and senior Sophia Lowe each carded an 84, and are tied for eighth place heading into Sunday.
• "It was my first college goal tournament…it felt good to be on our home course, and just try as hard as I can," said Grant. "I was doing really good, and then I had a little bump. And I got it back together and had a pretty good round."
• Said Pollock of Grant, "I kind of tinkered with the lineup today, and put five girls together who hadn't played. She's a big hitter, and she's just got so much potential. She wants to win."
• Freshman Samantha Webb had a birdie and finished at 86 and in a tie for 15^th, while sophomore Mailiis Simovart had a bird and ended Saturday at 91 and tied for 29^th.
• Ashland's B team is in seventh-place in the eight-team event, finishing Saturday's action with a score of 380. Sophomore Paige Lawson, who fired an 89 on Saturday, said it was nice to play in an event at home for the first time.
• "We are so familiar with the course…so it was nice to come into the tournament and be relaxed," Lawson said. "We know what the course is like."
• Freshman Lindsay Mayo led the B team with a 88 (one birdie).
• "As someone who has come in here as a freshman and worked during practice and put the extra work in," Pollock said, "she has worked her way into the starting lineup and will be for years to come. She's a great person on the team. Kind of our comic relief."

 
UP NEXT
After Sunday's second round, Ashland's women will play on Oct. 18-19 at the Music City Classic in Nashville, Tenn. Pollock said the top seven players from the Eagle Invite will go to Nashville.
 
As for down the line, the young Eagles are eager to get the program back to the postseason form it was in for a decade.
 
"We are young, but we have girls who have been playing golf since they've been a baby," Lawson said. "We're working together, we like practicing together. We're really strong in the teamwork aspect."
 
Said Grant, "There's a lot of young players, and we've done really good. It's such a young team. We've been really positive and open-minded."
 
Pollock likes the makeup of his team.
 
"I wouldn't want any other 11 to coach," he said.