Chippewas Third After Day 1 At Oakland

Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com

ROCHESTER, Mich. – Meghan Deardorff shot a 7-over par 79 on Monday to lead the Central Michigan golf team in the first round of the Oakland Golden Grizzlies Invitational at rainy and chilly Katke-Cousins Golf Course.

The Chippewas posted a 324 team score and are in third place in the 12-team field. They stand nine shots behind first-place Loyola (Chicago) and six back of second-place Oakland. Green Bay and the host Grizzlies are tied for fourth, two shots behind CMU.

The second and final round of the 36-hole event is scheduled for Tuesday.

"The scores were higher across the board, not just for us but the entire field in general because of the weather conditions," CMU coach Jim Earle said. "The pins were in extremely difficult positions.

"We came out of the blocks slow and we battled back and held the lead most of the day. All in all I was pleased, especially after the slow start, to get ourselves in contention. It was good to see Central on top of the leader board for a long period of time today."

TRENDING
It was the first sub-80 round of the fall season for Deardorff, a sophomore from Clarkston, who surged at the end of the spring season with a career-best 77 during the Mid-American Conference Championships.

She is among a trio of players tied for eighth in the 68-player field, six shots behind the leader, Elayna Bowser of Loyola. Oakland's Veronica Haque and Alexis Jones are tied for second after matching 76s.

Deardorff carded three of the Chippewas' six birdies in Monday's opening round on the par-72, 6,023-yard layout. She also made eight bogeys and one double bogey. All three of her birdies came during a seven-hole stretch on the back 9.

"She drove the ball exceptionally," Earle said. "She knows the golf course. That's her home track and she's really familiar with it. A little home-course advantage. And she was confident coming in. I've coached very few kids in my 16-year career that work as hard as Meghan does. It's all going to pay off for her. That course does not yield many birdies at all. She was definitely rolling the ball."

A solid round continued a trend for Deardorff, who finished 12^th with rounds of 79-76 during stroke play over the summer in the Golf Association of Michigan Women's Amateur. She claimed one of 32 match-play spots in that event.

Deardorff closed with back-to-back 80s last week in the Chippewas' season-opening Cardinal Classic in Yorktown, Ind.

OTHER CHIPPEWA SCORES
CMU fifth-year senior Holly Hines shot an 8-over 80, while sophomore Jami Laude carded a 10-over 82. Also for the Chippewas, senior Bria Colosky shot 83 and junior Danielle Sawyer posted an 89.

Hines is among a group of four players tied for 11^th, while Laude is 19^th.

CMU's Rachel Leucuta, playing as an individual, shot 86. The Chippewas' Amanda Walsh, also playing as an individual, shot 99.

FINAL ROUND
"It's all about this process that we're in," Earle said. "Trying to keep moving forward and put ourselves in position of contention and see how we handle it. It's not magic, it doesn't happen over night. This team needs to keep putting themselves in that position."

Central Michigan University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Bria Colosky

Meghan Deardorff

Holly Hines

Jami Laude

Rachel Leucuta

Danielle Sawyer

Amanda Walsh

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