French Sparkles as Trojans' Lead Swells
Crossroads League Championship Central | Live Scoring
BENTON HARBOR, Mich. – Taylor French tied the Taylor program record with a 4-under par 68 to lead the 6th-ranked Taylor women's golf team to a commanding lead following the first two rounds of action in the Crossroads League Championship.
French opened the tournament with a 78 but came roaring back during her afternoon jaunt around the 5,824-yard, par-72 layout of Benton Harbor Golf Club with five birdies and just one bogey en route to a splendid round of 68. With a two-round total of 146 (+2) French will enter Tuesday's final round atop the individual standings.
Closely pursuing French is senior Rachel Coers. Following an opening round 76 the Middletown, Indiana native tallied the best round of her career, closing birdie-birdie to post a tally of even-par 72. The highlight of the day for Coers was an eagle on the par-5 tenth hole where the senior knocked a 3-wood onto the green and buried the 10-footer.
With French and Coers leading the way the Trojans built a commanding lead as Taylor eyes a fourth consecutive Crossroads League title. The Trojans held a slim two-shot advantage over No. 10 Indiana Wesleyan following round one while No. 14 Bethel was 12 shots back but TU blew the tournament open in round two with a blistering team score of 292.
With a two-round total of 602 (310-292) the Trojans will enter Tuesday's final round with a 24-shot lead over No. 14 Bethel (322+304=626) while No. 10 Indiana Wesleyan (312+315=627) is one shot back of the Pilots.
All-American Maddie Thomas played steady golf for the Trojans on day one as the senior led the field in par-5 scoring at 1-under par en route to scores of 78-75. Thomas will enter Tuesday's final round in seventh place.
Fellow senior Annie Stimmel carded scores of 78-77 to finish the day in tenth place while All-American Nicole Jung posted tallies of 82-77 in her first action back after missing three of the last four tournaments due to injury.
The final round will begin with tee times starting at 9:00 am. Jung is the first Trojans on the course at 9:50 am followed by Stimmel (10:00 am), Thomas (10:10 am), Coers (10:20 am), and French (10:30 am).
Fans can attend the final round at no charge and follow hole-by-hole live scoring at golfstat.com.
