SUNSET BEACH, N.C. --- The Tusculum University women's golf team travels to the coast this week to compete at the 2019 Myrtle Beach Intercollegiate this Monday and Tuesday at the Ocean Ridge Plantation.
This is one of the Pioneers traditional fall stops as TU has competed in all 19 editions of the Myrtle Beach Intercollegiate. The tournament has been held every year since 2000 with the exception of 2015 when the event was cancelled due to Hurricane Joaquin.
Tusculum's best finishes in this event have come in 2011 and 2017 as the Pioneers claimed runner-up honors in those tournaments.
This week's starting five includes senior Jennifer Keim, juniors Bianca Finday and Taylor Gransen, sophomore Olivia Cunningham and freshman Yen Xuan Ong.
Keim, Findlay, Gransen and Ong were part of last week's line-up that finished third at the King Invitational. TU got off to a sluggish start opening with 337, but shot a final round low 318 to make a charge at the lead. Tusculum opened the season with a team title at the Mars Hill Invitational earlier this month.
Keim (South Yarmouth, Mass.) is off to a sizzling start this fall where she has posted consecutive runner-up finishes at both the Mars Hill Invitational and the King Invitational. The Florida Atlantic University transfer shot a steady 76-74=150 at the Country Club of Bristol layout last week. Her 74.8 scoring average is currently the best on the team.
Yen Xuan Ong will also be making her third straight start and has an 80.3 stroke average which is second on the roster. The Malaysia native carded back-to-back rounds of 83 at the King Invitational to shoot 166 and finish tied for 11th place. In her collegiate debut at the MHU Invitational, she tied for fourth place honors.
Gransen, a product of Tempe, Arizona, tied for 20th at the King Invitational where she shot 87-82=169. She has an 81.0 scoring average and logged a fourth-place showing at the Mars Hill Invitational earlier this month.
Findlay is in the starting five for a second week after finished 27th at King in her Tusculum debut. She opened with a 93 last Monday, but bounced back to shoot 79 in her final round to finish 27th with 172.
Cunningham will be making her 2019-2020 debut this week at the Myrtle Beach Intercollegiate. She is the only player in this week's line-up who played has played in this event. The Nashville, Tennessee native posted a 78.1 scoring average in last year's rookie campaign where she posted five top-20 finishes in her 10 tournaments. She finished tied for 39th at last year's Intercollegiate posting rounds of 84-81=165.
Following this week, the Pioneers will close out the fall schedule on Oct. 7-8 as they travel to Salisbury, North Carolina for the Patsy Rendleman Invitational.
