Lady Vols take their best shots at SEC golf

Nicole Smith had the best round, and Ginny Brown had the shot of the day.

Led by these two Lady Vols, Tennessee fired a 9-over-par 293 and is in fourth place after the second round of the SEC Women's Golf Championships.

With a team score of 588, Tennessee is just six shots behind leader Arkansas heading into today's final round at the Cobblestone Park Golf Club in Blythewood, S.C.

"We are in a great position,'' UT coach Judi Pavon said. "Six shots back is nothing on this course. We are definitely capable of making that up. There are six teams right in this that can still win, and we are glad to be one of them."

Auburn (585) is second and LSU (587) is third. Just behind UT is Alabama (591) and Georgia (592).

After shooting a 76 on Friday, Smith came back with five birdies and shot a 2-under 69, which tied for the second-best round of the day. Smith is tied for ninth in the individual standings at 3-over 145.

Smith, Tennessee's lone senior, missed last season's tournament and the fall season because of injury. The lost time adds up to motivation for her final SEC tournament.

"That's what's driving me,'' Smith said. "I want to leave the biggest impact on Tennessee I can. I'm going to fight as hard as I can tomorrow and hopefully I can light the same fire under everybody else on my team."

Brown scored a hole-in-one on the par-three, 140-yard 11th hole. She used an 8-iron, hitting the ball over water. It took one hop and rolled into the hole.

"It was awesome,'' said Brown, who shot a 72 and is tied for 11th (146). "I hit an OK shot - I pulled it a little bit. I knew it was a hole-in-one when I saw my parents and everybody by the hole cheering. I holed out from the fairway at SECs last year, too."

UT's Nathalie Mansson (147) is tied for 17th. Diana Cantu (150) is tied for 25th and Lauren Spurlock (153) is tied for 34th.

Men's Tennis: Tennessee lost at Georgia 5-2 as the Bulldogs extended their home winning streak to 60 matches.

With the victory, Georgia (21-2, 10-1, SEC) earned the No. 2 seed for the SEC tournament behind Ole Miss. Tennessee (19-5, 8-3) will be the No. 3 seed

John-Patrick Smith and Boric Conkic won singles matches for UT.

Men's Golf: UT improved its team score by 13 strokes but still stands in 11th place at the SEC Men's Golf Championships at the Frederica Golf Club on St. Simons Island, Ga.

Tennessee's 292 score was led by Robin Wingardh, who shot a 71 and is tied for 24th at 4-over-par 148. UT has a two-round total of 597.

UT is 34 strokes behind team-leader Georgia.

"The bottom line is we have just not played well as a team,'' Tennessee coach Jim Kelson said.

David Holmes and Chris Paisley (149) are tied for 34th while Darren Renwick (151) is tied for 42nd. Paisley and Renwick both have been hampered by food poisoning. Cameron Lawrence (159) is 59th.