Tommy Baker, son of Dr. Warren Baker, formerly of White Lake, is the head coach of the James Madison University Women’s Golf Team. Tommy is a graduate of Cape Fear High School in Fayetteville and UNC Pembroke. Baker grew up playing golf at what is now Vineyard Golf at White Lake.
JMU women’s golf took home not only the individual championship, but also the team championship in dramatic fashion at the three-day, par-72 CAA Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina. Redshirt freshman Kendall Turner erased a five-shot deficit Tuesday to win the individual title, while the team came back from 16 strokes down to win by five strokes.
It was smooth sailing for the Dukes in the opening round Sunday — freshman Amelia Williams, redshirt sophomore Kate Owens and Turner were all tied for first at 74. Following round one, JMU was in the driver’s seat to run away with the victory with a four stroke lead over College of Charleston.
The Dukes struggled on Monday — all three first placers from Sunday dropped down the leaderboard. Turner moved to third, Owens to fourth and Williams to T-8 after shooting an 80.
Redshirt sophomore Carly Lyvers and redshirt freshman Ana Tsiros both improved their scores Monday, by three (77) and six (78) strokes, respectively. JMU shot five strokes worse than on Sunday (307) and dropped to second behind College of Charleston — who shot a 287 (-1) — heading into Tuesday’s final round.
The Cougars’ 16-stroke lead seemed insurmountable, but JMU didn’t give up. In the final round Tuesday, the Dukes not only improved, but they did so by 16 strokes. Partly aided by College of Charleston’s final round 309 (+21), the Dukes moved back to first place after shooting a cumulative 288 (even).
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