SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum's Jennifer Keim carded a new career low with her one-under par 70 and is tied for first place after the opening day of the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate. The Pioneers shot a team score of 302 and is in third place and five strokes behind first round leader Eastern Kentucky (297).
The three-day, 54-hole tournament is being held at Sevierville Golf Club – Highlands Course and hosted by NCAA Division I Tennessee Tech. The 13-team field represents 10 Division I programs and three DII programs including TU, Findlay and Carson-Newman.
Keim recorded four birdies, three bogeys and 11 pars, and shares the lead with EKU's Ragga Kristinsdottir. Keim's round is tied for the third lowest in school history and one shot from the record 69 held by Rachel McFarland at the 2003 South Atlantic Conference Championship and Amanda Bowen at the 2007 Agnes McAmis Memorial.
TU teammate Olivia Cunningham shot a two-over par 73 and is in sole possession of fourth place and is three shots off the leaders. Cunningham was one shot away from matching her career-low 72 at the 2018 Bob Dibble Classic. Her round included a triple bogey in it, but she tallied three birdies to be in the top-five.
Nilubol Panno is tied for 26th place with her 78 and Hannah Brown is 44th with her 81. Jacques Butler carded a 91 and is 63rd.
Eastern Kentucky has a three-shot lead over second place Findlay (300). Tusculum is third with 302, followed by Northern Iowa, Western Carolina, Radford, Carson-Newman, Austin Peay State, Tennessee Tech, Tennessee Tech B, Northern Kentucky, Bellarmine and Indiana State.
Tusculum's 302 is tied for the ninth-best 18-hole score in school history.
The second round will be played on Monday at the 5,803-yard, par-71 layout.
