Wet weather has followed the Tigers for weeks and once again has figured into the picture as Towson sloshed its way through the first round of the Colonial Athletic Association's Women's Golf Championships at Pinehurst No. 6.
A steady rain showered the field of 50 golfers with two-time defending champion Georgia State seemingly least affected. The Panthers are in charge after 18 holes. Towson is sitting 8th, just seven shots behind 7th place William & Mary but comfortably ahead of Dayton and Hofstra.
"We didn't have a choice," said Tiger coach Kate Stepanek, "we had to grind it out in the rain again."
On April 5th bad weather finally forced the cancellation of the third round of the Hoya Invitational where theTigers were 16th. Last week rain closed down the course after only nine holes of a second round at the Roar-EE Invitational hosted by Columbia in Suffern, N.Y. The Tigers were 7th in a field of 13 teams.
"Tomorrow we need to start hitting the greens on the par threes and pick up some birdies on some of the finishing holes," Stepanek said. "We're 14 shots out of the top five. I know we can score better."
The Tigers got a lift from senior Sara Eichelberger who is tied for 18th with a 79, playing the front nine in two over. It was her first sub-80 score since early March.
Junior Airielle Dawson also came in with an opening round 79 that included an even par 35 on the backside. Senior Elisabeth Herzfeld couldn't shake off two straight double bogeys at the start of her round and is tied for 32nd. She was 8 over after her first nine but played her second nine in three over, finishing with five straight pars.
Senior Emily Kwak is tied for 40th with an 85. Freshman Casey VanDyke, trying to play through a sore left wrist, is tied for 42nd with an 86.
Second round action continues tomorrow. Follow the Tigers hole-by-hole on Golfstat's live scoring (http://www.golfstatresults.com/home.cfm).
The Tigers: T18 Sara Eichelberger 79 +7 and Airielle Dawson 79 +7, T32 Elisabeth Herzfeld 83+11, T40 Emily Kwak 85 +13, T42 Casey VanDyke 86 +14.
Team Scores: Georgia State 307 +19, Old Dominion 309 +21 and Richmond 309 +21, James Madison 312 +24 and UNC Wilmington 312 +24, Xavier 313 +25, William & Mary 319 +31, Towson 326 +38, Dayton 338 +50, Hofstra 344 +56.
NOTES: The Tigers finished 9th at the CAA Tournament last year ... this is their fifth CAA tourney ... their best finish is 6th in 2009 ... Airielle Dawson leads the birdie count for Towson with two ... Sara Eichelberger recorded pars on nine of her last 11 holes ... the defending medalist is Georgia State's Charlotte Lorentzen is tied for 13th with a 6-over 78 ... William & Mary's Caroline Sweet and Richmond's Jillian Fraccola share the lead with 73's ... none of the 50 golfers shot under par ... both the men's PGA and women's LPGA Opens will be held on back-to-back weeks at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2014.
