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CHATTANOOGA---The Chattanooga Mocs women's golf team got their week started right shooting 4-over 288 to open play at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate. It was a consistent effort with 71, two 72s and a 73 populating the counting cards.
 
"We are happy with today's performance," Coach Colette Murray shared following the round. "The team fought hard and maintained their composure throughout the whole round. The energy was great, and we all had a lot of fun out there. There were a few doozy pins which we coped really well with, so I was really happy about that."
 
Giulia Foresta led the way with an even-par 71 to sit in a tie for seventh. Violeta Fernandez-Tagle and Kera Healey were next in a tie for 13th with 72. Makenzie Cooper closed the counting cards with 73, while Nieves Martin had the drop score with 78.
 
Miami (Fla.) has the lead after 18 holes at 2 over. Tennessee, Memphis and UCF are tied for second at 3 over with the Mocs in the fifth slot. The Vols' Kyra Van Kan is on top of the player leaderboard at 2 under with Foresta among a group of 11 student-athletes within two shots of the lead.
 
Martin gets it started at 10:20 a.m., off No. 1 with the Mocs paired with Memphis and Campbell. Cooper (10:30), Fernandez-Tagle (10:40), Healey (10:50) and Foresta (11:00) follow in 10-minute increments.
 
Tournament 4: 2024 Mercedes-Benz Collegiate
Dates: Oct. 20-22 | Format: 18 per day | Host: Tennessee
Course: Cherokee C.C; Par 71; 5,965 yards | Location: Knoxville, Tenn.
Field: Chattanooga, Campbell, Charlotte, UCF, East Carolina, ETSU, Eastern Kentucky, Georgia State, Kent State, Memphis, Miami (Fla.), Middle Tennessee, Tennessee
Live Scoring: Scoreboard
 
Team Leaderboard
1) Miami (Fla.): 286 (+2)
2) Tennessee: 287 (+3)
tie) Memphis: 287 (+3)
tie) UCF: 287 (+3)
5) Chattanooga: 288 (+4)
6) Campbell: 291 (+7)
7) Middle Tennessee: 295 (+11)
8) East Carolina: 299 (+15)
tie) Kent State: 299 (+15)
10) ETSU: 307 (+23)
tie) Georgia State: 307 (+23)
12) Charlotte: 309 (+25)
13) Eastern Kentucky: 310 (+26)
 
Lineup
T7) Giulia Foresta: 71 (E)
T13) Violeta Fernandez-Tagle: 72 (+1)
T13) Kera Healey: 72 (+1)
T22) Makenzie Cooper: 73 (+2)
T55) Nieves Martin: 78 (+7)
 
Notes

• 288 ties for the lowest opening 18 for the program in 14th visit to the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate. The last happened in 2021 leading to a tie for third finish, the best for the program in the event.
• 4 over is the low 18 of the year vs par. It marks back-to-back best round with the Evie Odom final 18's 286 being the best 18-hole total of the year.
• 2 under over the back nine bouncing back from a 6 over start on the front.
• The level-par 71 is Foresta's third par or better card of the season and eighth in her career.
• Healey and Fernandez-Tagle are tied for the tournament lead in par 4 scoring. They are 1 under and just ahead of Foresta at even par.
• Fernandez-Tagle and Cooper are just one par shy of the tournament lead there with both carding 14 today. The team turned in 51 pars on the counting cards which is the third time with 50+ in early season play.

 
History at Mercedes-Benz
Year: Team Scores | Top Individual 
2008: T9th, 296-302-295-893 | T10, Salinas, 73-74-70=217
2009: 8th, 300-302-305=907 | T20, de Groot, 73-72-79=224
2010: 7th, 300-293-289=882 | T9, Wolf, 73-73-70=216
2012: 14th, 311-307-304=922 | T26, Britt, 76-72-74=222
2013: 8th, 292-ppd-299=591 | T19, McLennan, 70-76=146
2014: 13th, 317-298-308=923 | T15, Sauzon, 76-72-74=222
2015: 12th, 295-294-319=908 | T34, McLennan, 72-71-80=223
2016: 9th, 295-289-290=874 | T23, Morgan, 77-70-71=218
2018: 15th, 307-302-304=913 | T31, San Juan, 75-75-74=224
2019: 7th, 289-289-294=872 | T11, McDanel, 71-71-71=213
2021: T3rd, 288-290-286=864 | T2, Zalewska, 68-71-72=211
2022: 11, 292-302-286=880 | T16, Zalewska, 69-74-69=212
2023: 11, 301-295-287=883 | T29, Cooper: 74-70-73=217
 
Next Up
Feb. 23-24 – Westbrook Invite – Peoria, Ariz. (Westbrook Village GC)
 
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