Dunn
The Tennessee Tech women’s golf team finished third at the Murray State Invitational in Murray, Kentucky last week, aided by the exceptional play of Allyson Dunn who earned All-Tournament honors.
The MSU Invitational was played at Miller Memorial Golf Course with each player having only 36 holes to make their mark. Whitney Robertson, Maddi Everts, Allyson Dunn, Haley Davidson and Megan Williamson all represented Tennessee Tech.
Following its third place finish, Coach Polk Brown set goals for his team.
“The main goal is for the team to continue to improve each day. We obviously want to be competitive in each tournament we play while hopefully giving ourselves a chance to win, but it’s all about the process,” said Brown. “We need to approach every day with a championship mindset with no excuses whatsoever. Win the day each and every day. The rest will take care of itself.”
During the first round, Robertson led the Golden Eagles with a 5-over-par 77 making her tied for seventh out of 75. Everts and Williamson both ended the day tied for 22nd, carding 79s. Dunn carded an 81 and Davidson an 89 to complete the first round of play. As a whole, Tech finished the first round with a combined score of 316, which put them in fifth place.
It was during the second round the next day that Dunn began to shine after she worked on her shortcomings from the previous day.
“I was very disappointed with my score after the first round, so I was determined to get out there and have a good day on Tuesday,” said Dunn. “I just wanted to help out the team after not being of much assistance the first day.”
Dunn said she realized she had a lot of trouble putting the first day, so she and Brown arrived early on the course to practice before the second round.
“I felt much more comfortable going into the second round and had a much more positive attitude,” said Dunn. “I wanted to prove to myself that I could play a lot better golf at that course than I had the day before.”
Dunn started the day tied for 33rd overall and went on to play the best performance of her career. She carded a career low 3-under-par and ended the invitational with scores of 81-69 – 150, tied for fourth place. Her performance earned her All-Tournament honors for the first time in her career.
“It felt awesome to get All-Tournament honors for the first time. It was even more special that I had my parents there to watch,” said Dunn. “Hopefully this will be the first of many tournament honors for me.”
Dunn wasn’t alone in Tech’s success; Everts ended the invitational tied for ninth with scores of 79-76 – 155. Not far behind was Robertson who tied for 12th carding 77-79 – 156. Williamson tied for 35th with scores of 79-83 – 162 and Davidson ended the invitational tied in 68th with an 89-89 – 178.
The Golden Eagles scores of 316-307 – 623 were good enough for a third place finish.
Everts credits part of their success during the second round to having a good attitude.
“I am proud of this team for making the jump in the standings on Day Two. After round one, everyone was disappointed with the score but rather than having poor attitudes, we saw it as an opportunity to play better in round two and that's exactly what we did,” said Everts. “The team's determination and heart for the game is a big asset. Those qualities are what make teams successful.”
The Golden Eagles are ranked third in the OVC standings going into the CSU Wendy’s Invitational Oct. 5 and 6 in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.
