Wingate Stays on Top of the Leaderboard After Blustery Second Round at SAC Women's Golf Championship

ELGIN, S.C. – The weather was again the story on Monday at the 2018 South Atlantic Conference Championship, with sustained winds of nearly 20 miles per hour and gusts of up to 38 wreaking havoc on golfers during the second round.

Despite the brutal conditions, 15th-ranked Wingate opened a sizeable lead on the rest of the field with a 28-over 316. Tusculum and Anderson entered the round trailing the Bulldogs by four and five strokes, respectively, but Wingate left the day with a 19-stroke lead over both schools. Queens sits four shots further back at 75 over, with Coker 78 over par in fifth.

Co-leader Mind Puangcharoen of Wingate shot a five-over 77, the lowest round of any competitor on the day, to equal her score from Sunday's opening round. Teammate Laura Nunez had Monday's second-lowest round with a 78, moving into a three-way tie for sixth place overall with fellow Bulldogs Diana McDonald (80) and Cristina Casanella (81).

Wingate created separation from the rest of the field on the back nine. The Bulldogs had six birdies as a team, including three from Puangcharoen, over the final nine holes alone on a day in which competitors from the other 10 teams combined for 35 birdies over their entire rounds. Forty-six of the 55 players shot an 80 or above on the day.

Puangcharoen shares the individual lead with Cameryn Smith of Queens, who was impressive with a seven-over 79 a day after opening the tournament with a 75. Smith never had worse than a bogey and finished with 11 pars on the day.

The pair is one shot clear of Tusculum's Cydney Murrell and Kate Hill of Anderson. Murrell entered the day with a share of the lead and had an eight-over 80, with Hill carding a 79 on Monday. Katie Tomassoni of Tusculum is three shots off the pace in fifth place.

Teams will tee off at 8:30 a.m. in Tuesday's final round. Live scoring will be available through Birdiefire.