Mercer University
Atlantic Sun Championship
Women's Golf Jumps to Third at A-Sun Championship
4/10/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
NEW SYMRNA BEACH, Fla. – Mercer sophomore Lacey Fears fired a collegiate career low 70 in Tuesday's second round of the Atlantic Sun Women's Golf Championship, helping the Bears elevate to third place on the team leaderboard. Fears' effort brought her 36-hole total to 141, tying her for second in the individual standings.
As a team, Mercer shot 289 in the second round and holds a one stroke lead on Stetson. Mercer's tournament total of 587 trails only East Tennessee State (582) and Kennesaw State (576) for the championship.
"The team was totally focused today on getting the job done," Mercer head coach Gary Guyer said. "Our goal today was to beat our team record set yesterday of 298. By scoring well today we moved from 4th to 3rd and into the final tee times for the final round. It is amazing how loose the team is and how much fun they are having."
Jacksonville and Florida Gulf Coast each have scores of 620 and are tied for fifth, while Belmont and Lipscomb are tied for seventh at 629. USC Upstate (632) rounds out the field.
Mercer's 289 set a program single-round record in A-Sun Championship play for the second straight day. Prior to this year's tournament, the Bears' best A-Sun Championship round was 300, recorded in last year's opening round.
Fears' 70 was 2-under par and bested her previous collegiate low round of 71, shot three times over two years in Orange and Black. Her two-day total of 141 is also a career low, topping her 36-hole score of 143 at least year's Eat a Peach Collegiate.
"Lacey continues to be very consistent in hitting fairways and greens," Guyer said. "A few more putts fell today. Tomorrow, she is looking forward to going head-to-head with the other two leaders. We have never been in this position before so we can go for it."
Fears' 141 equals her with ETSU's Sian Evans for second place overall. Both Evans and Fears trail ETSU's Gabrielle Wahl by one stroke for the individual lead.
Freshman Sarah Louie Brown also set a career personal best on Tuesday, shooting 70 to move into a tie for eighth place overall. Brown's 70 came on the heels of a Monday 76 and helped her move up from a tie for 15th after day one.
"Sarah has been striking the ball well all spring," Guyer said. "It was nice to see her approach shots getting closer to the hole. Dhe has started putting much more confidently."
Sophomore Mary Alice Murphy and junior Aurelie Wiriath are each tied for 13th place individually with tournament scores of 150. Murphy signed for a 74 on Tuesday while Wiriath posted her second straight 75. Junior Kaitlin Marrin used 79 strokes in the second round and is slotted in a tie for 26th overall with a score of 157.
"The key to winning is to get five great players," Guyer said. "Mary Alice, Aurelie and Kaitlin are shooting scores that anyone can be proud of. They are a big key to our success."
The final round of this year's A-Sun Championship begins at 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning.
Players Mentioned
