JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga. - Coker University women's golf competed on day one of the Jekyll Island Intercollegiate on Monday (Oct. 17).
Daniella Gyoni and Kathleen Escobar finished tied for 23rd individually shooting a 75, while Jenna Werle turned in a 78. Mack Taylor Bailey carded a 79, while Lora Ledbetter also turned in an 88. Haylie George also turned a 78 as an individual, shooting a team-best three birdies.
"I was really proud of our ladies today for the way they battled back after a poor start," said head coach John Hackney. "We were 17 over on the front nine and came back in just two over on the back to stay in contention for a very high finish in a great regional field. We were way down near the bottom of the leaderboard after the front nine, when we made no birdies among our five players, but then we got it going on the back nine and made five birdies and a bunch of pars. We played the last five holes at even par to stay in contention. That's what winners do: they stay patient and believe in their talent and our ladies did that today. We're in a logjam with five or six teams tied for seventh place so if we can just go out tomorrow and have the kind of start that we had at the finish today, then some really cool things can happen in the final round. We just really struggled with our speed control and reading the breaks early in the round but then the ladies got it dialed in as the day progressed. Hopefully, instead of burning edges tomorrow we'll see the putts drop and we'll sail up higher in the standings. Daniella made two birdies and was one under on her back nine to complete a solid day of 75 while Jenna played her last nine at two over to card a 78. Mack and Kathleen were both one over on their back nine to shoot 79 and 75, respectively. You have to learn something from each round as the season goes on and I think we showed today that we can bounce back after a poor start, so that was nice to see."
The Cobras return to action tomorrow (Tuesday, Oct. 18) to wrap up tournament play. Tee time is set for 9:00 a.m., with live results available at www.cokercobras.com.