SORRENTO, Fla. — Sophomore Moon Cheong led Dartmouth in the second round of the Morehead State Spring Citrus Challenge by carding a 2-over 74 on Monday as the Big Green maintained their standing in the middle of the pack in fifth place in the nine-team field. Murray State continued to sit atop the leaderboard thanks to a 6-over 294 today, extending its lead to 16 strokes over Keiser University with a 581 (+5). The Big Green have shot a 306 each day to finish the day at 36-over par, three strokes behind Austin Peay in fourth.
Cheong sank three birdies on the front nine to reach the turn at 2-under and made par on six of the next holes to reach the final hole at even par. But she found trouble on 18 for the second straight day and suffered a double bogey to bring her two-day total to 152 (+8), tying her for 13th place in the 55-player field with her teammate, Catharine Roddy. The senior matched her first-round score with a 4-over 76 with 12 pars and a birdie.
Freshman Kaitlyn Lees nearly matched Roddy with a birdie and nine pars to shoot a 77 (+5), improving by two strokes from her first round and move up four spots on the leaderboard into a tie for 27th. Freshman Kristen Chen, who started the day with back-to-back birdies, contributed to the Big Green score with a 79 (+7) and is 15-over for the first two rounds, tied for 32nd.
Yesterday’s leader for Dartmouth, junior Kristen Soh, struggled in the second round with a 12-over 84 to drop back into a tie for 34th, one stroke behind Chen.
The Big Green also have three players competing as individuals, including junior Maddie Nelson who shot a 79 (+7) and sophomore Julianne Strauch who carded an 81 (+9).
After starting the day in a tie for first, Murray State’s Anna Moore shot an identical 2-under 70 today and opened up a five-stroke lead over Keiser’s Michela Tjan. Georgia State’s Petra Duran could not keep pace with Moore, scoring a 5-over 77 to drop seven strokes back into fourth, one behind another Murray State golfer, Jane Watts.
The tournament will conclude on Tuesday with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m.
As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.