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Uremovich and Taylor card 68 on second day of Hooters Women's College Team Championship
DAHLONEGA, Georgia – UNCG's duo of Rachel Uremovich and Courtney Taylor shot a second-round score of 68 during the Best Ball phase of the Hooters Women's Collegiate Team Championship on Tuesday to pull back to even-par and into a tie for 19th place entering Wednesday's final round.
Low scores was the story of the day during the second round of the inaugural Hooters Women's Collegiate Team Championship as seven groups sit within four shots of the lead heading into Thursday's final round at Achasta, By Reynolds.
The second-round Best Ball format proved to be ideal for Cheyenne Woods and Michelle Shin from Wake Forest who carded the low round of the day with a 10-under-par 62. Following the pair's even par opening round, Woods/Shin shot up the leaderboard and sit just one stroke off the lead at 10-under-par for the championship.
The University of Virginia's Brittany Altimore and Elizabeth Brightwell made their move on Wednesday with seven birdies and an eagle on the par 5 fourth hole to card a 9-under-par 63 and move to 10-under-par for the tournament.
The lead is still held by the duo from Alabama as Brooke Pancake and Jennifer Kirby looked to head into Thursday with a two-shot advantage, but a bogey on the 18th hole created a log jam at the top of the leaderboard as the pair recorded a 7-under-par 65 and sit at 11-under par for the championship. Pancake/Kirby are just one shot clear of Woods and Shin from Wake Forest, and Virginia's Altimore and Brightwell heading into Thursday's final round.
Ashland University's Annie Miles and Erin Misheff continued to pull away in the race for the NCAA Division II low score in the championship as the pair shot 4-under par on the front nine on their way to a 5-under par 67. While sitting in a tie for 13th place overall at 2-under par for the tournament, they are also 10 shots clear of the nearest DII competitor, as Tarlton State University is 8-over par for the championship.
In the Division III/NAIA competition, Savannah College of Art and Design's Nikki Stewart and Mary-Michael Burns took the lead after a second-round 5-under par 67 that put the pair three shots clear of DePauw's Taylor Ashton and Kelly Gaughan.
Thursday's final round of the Hooters Women's Collegiate Team Championship Presented by the National Golf Coaches Association will feature 53 groups teeing off starting at 8:00 a.m., with the tournament leaders reaching the first tee at 9:57 a.m. with an aggregate score format.
The format of the championship is Tuesday was alternate shot, Wednesday was Best Ball, and Thursday will be aggregate score of the two players.
Taylor was the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year and an all-conference selection last season. The native of Gastonia, N.C finished fifth in the league in stroke average at 75.41. She recorded five Top 10 finishes in her rookie season, with four of those coming in her final six tournaments of the year. She finished fifth at the SoCon Championship in April.
Uremovich is a native of Hilton Head, S.C., who sat out this past season as a redshirt after earning all-state all four years in high school. She was the 2006 Carolinas Junior Player of the Year, winning the South Carolina Junior Girls' Match Play Championship and the Twin States' Junior Girls' Championship that year. She played earlier this summer in the Women's Amateur Public Links Championship.
The duo continued their late momentum from Tuesday to post a strong score on Wednesday. After starting the day five-over on Tuesday and rallying to get back to four-over with three consecutive birdies late in the first round, the Spartan pair was one-under for the day through the first four holes. After bogeys at Nos. 7 and 9 sandwiched a birdie at No. 8, the pair carded birdies on Nos. 11, 12, 14 and 15 to get back to two-under for the tourney and six-under for the day. However, a double-bogey on No. 18 set them to even-par for the tourney.
Taylor and Uremovich will tee off at 8:27 a.m. for the second consecutive day on Thursday and will be playing with Mississippi's Jillian Brodd and Haley Millsap off of No. 1 tee for the aggregate score portion of the tournament.
- UNCG -
