SAMFORD WOMEN’S GOLF: BULLDOGS SHOOT TOURNAMENT-BEST 292; WIN BSC ANN RHOADS INVITATIONAL BY 40 STROKES
--- Samford’s Arnold fires a final-round score of 68 to take the individual title ---
CALERA, Ala. --- The Samford women’s golf team couldn’t have asked for a better beginning to the 2009 spring season Monday as the Bulldogs cruised to an impressive 40-stroke victory at the Birmingham-Southern College Ann Rhoads Invitational held at Timberline Golf Course.
Samford, which earned its second first-place finish of the 2008-09 campaign Monday, fired a tournament-best round of 292 on the second day of competition. The Bulldogs concluded the two-day event with a final team tally of 603.
Jackson State University placed second in the competition with a final score of 643, while Indiana State University rounded out the top three at 652.
“We played extremely well today and I’m proud of how we competed,” said Samford head coach Woodie Eubanks. “We had a great round yesterday and then our players came out today and didn’t let up. Heather (Arnold) did an outstanding job and this was one of the biggest margins of victory that I’ve been a part of in collegiate coaching.”
In a total of six tournaments this season, Samford has earned at least a top-five finish in five of the events.
Samford’s Heather Arnold won the individual title Monday and carded a dominant two-round score of 147. After opening the competition with an eighth-place score of 79 on Sunday, she turned in a tournament-best round of 68 on Monday.
The individual championship title was Arnold’s first of the 2008-09 season. In September, the Bulldogs’ highly-touted junior from Lenior City, Tenn., turned in a 13th-place finish at the 2008 Fred Marx Invitational at the Bayou Desiard Country Club in Monroe, La. Samford won the 11-team tournament by 21 strokes.
The Bulldogs finished one-two-three in individual play at the BSC Ann Rhoads Invitational on Monday.
After Arnold’s tournament-best score of 147, Samford’s Katelyn Stanier placed second in the two-day event with a 148 (77-71). The Bulldogs’ Sara Hunt earned a third-place finish by carding a final score of 152 (76-76), while Maria Troche also tallied a top-10 finish. Samford’s senior from Asuncion, Paraguay, tied for sixth place with a 156 (79-77).
All six of Samford’s women’s golfers finished in the top 35 on Monday.
True freshman Sarah Butts placed 16th in the two-day competition with a final score of 164 (86-78), while senior Kellie O’Connell earned a 31st-place finish at 172 (87-85).
The Samford University women’s golf team will next be in action March 1-3 as the Bulldogs are set to compete in the 2009 USA Lady Jaguar Invitational to be held at Azalea City Golf Course in Mobile, Ala.
Miami Leads after Second Day of Edwin Watts/Kiawah Island Classic
Kiawah Island, S.C. -- Miami fired a 305 in the second round to take sole possession of the lead after 36 holes of the Edwin Watts/Kiawah Island Classic being held Feb. 22-24 at Oak and Cougar Point on Kiawah Island, S.C. East Tennessee State sits just one stroke behind in second with a two-day total of 606. The College of Charleston is tied with Western Carolina for eighth with a 617, after the Cougars fired a 310 on the day.
In an event billed as the largest collegiate women's golf tournament in the country, the top 22 teams advanced to the championship round to be held Tuesday at Cougar Point. There is a flight championship for the remaining 21 teams and will be held at the same time at Oak Point. Both rounds are a shotgun format and will commence at 9:15 a.m. There will be a tournament champion named, as well as a flight champion. Along with an overall individual medalist honor, there will be an award presented to the top player from each course.
Mary Kate Bird of Nebraska, Florida's Jessica Yadloczky and UCF's Elisa Aoki are tied for first for inidividual medalist honors with a two-over par 146 each.
The Cougars were led by Steffi Kirchmayr, who shot a 149 to sit tied for ninth. Leigh Whittaker is tied for 25th with a 153 and tied for 77th is Emily Rapp and Fiona Puyo who both fired a 158 each. Rounding out the Cougar top five is Courtney Brink, who is tied for 94th with a 160. Gabi Zuber is competing as an individual and is tied for 166th with a 169.
Team Results
Miami, U. of -300 -305 -605
East Tennessee St. -300 -306 -606
Central Arkansas -310 -300 -610
Mississippi, U. of -305 -306 -611
Florida, U of -309 -303 -612
UCF -306 -307 -613
Kentucky, U. of -312 -302 -614
Charleston, Coll. of -307 -310 -617
Western Carolina U. -306 -311 -617
South Florida -314 -304 -618
Toledo, U. of -319 -300 -619
Oregon, U. of -310 -311 -621
Oral Roberts Univ. -303 -318 -621
Augusta State -315 -307 -622
Middle Tennessee State -311 -312 -623
Nebraska, U. of -309 -314 -623
Illinois State Univ. -320 -305 -625
Oregon State U. -319 -309 -628
Wm. & Mary, Coll. of -318 -310 -628
UNC Wilmington -311 -317 -628
Mississippi St. U. -311 -319 -630
Elon University -328 -302 -630
Jacksonville St. -314 -318 -632
Texas State -320 -313 -633
Winthrop University -329 -309 -638
Charleston Southern -322 -317 -639
Richmond -330 -310 -640
Longwood University -316 -324 -640
Southern Methodist -333 -309 -642
Ball State -326 -321 -647
Kennesaw State -331 -318 -649
Missouri State -334 -318 -652
Maryland, U. of -313 -339 -652
Cincinnati, U. of -334 -319 -653
Bucknell University -325 -332 -657
USC Upstate -334 -325 -659
Wofford College -347 -314 -661
Bradley University -344 -319 -663
Old Dominion -328 -336 -664
Southern Illinois U. -341 -326 -667
Marshall University -339 -338 -677
Mercer University -350 -330 -680
Citadel, The -352 -354 -706
WCU Women’s Golf Slips into Two-Way Tie for Second at Kiawah Island Intercollegiate
Makes Championship Cut Freshman Blaire Minter tied for ninth in individual play to lead Catamounts
Kiawah Island, S.C. ? Western Carolina slipped into a two-way tie for eighth place after a second-round 311, six strokes off the pace Monday at the Edwin Watts / Kiawah Island Intercollegiate. The Catamounts second round was played at the par 72, 5,907-yard Oak Point Course.
In an event billed as the largest collegiate women's golf tournament in the country, the top 22 teams advanced to the championship round to be held Tuesday at Cougar Point. WCU shot 306 to stand fifth on the same courts on Sunday.
The tournament will also feature a flight championship for the remaining 21 teams and will be held at the same time at Oak Point. Both rounds are a shotgun format and will commence at 9:15 am.
Freshman Blaire Minter and junior Desiree Karlsson each posted rounds of two-over 74 on Monday. Karlsson posted two birdies and two bogies on the front nine to make the turn at even par before carding seven pars and two bogies on the back. Minter had three birdies and three bogies through 16 holes before a double-bogey on the par 5 17th dropped her to two over.
Minter holds a top 10 position tied for ninth, while Karlsson is tied for 21st overall.
Freshman Rachel Nelson stands tied for 67th after shooting 80 on Monday. She made the turn at one-over with two birdies and three bogies through nine. However, Nelson posted three bogies and two doubles over the final nine. Sophomore Josefine Sundh tied for 89th with a two-day total of 159, and junior Elin Mickelsson with a two-round score of 168.
Live scoring coverage of the third and final round is available online at www.GolfStat.com.
Bruell, Elon Move Up at Kiawah Island Classic
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. ? Frederique Bruell forged an even-par 72 as Elon emerged from its first-round tie for 29th place into a tie for 21st place in the 43-team field after the second round of the three-day, three-round Edwin Watts/Kiawah Island Classic women’s golf tournament Monday afternoon at the Cougar Point and Oak Point Golf Clubs.
The Phoenix (328-302?630 after 36 holes) will enter third-round action Tuesday morning, tied with Mississippi State (630) and leading Jacksonville State (632), Texas State (633), Winthrop (638), Charleston Southern (639), Richmond (640), Longwood (640), Southern Methodist (642), Ball State (647), Kennesaw State (649), Missouri State (652), Maryland (652), Cincinnati (653), Bucknell (657), USC Upstate (659), Wofford (661), Bradley (663), Old Dominion (664), Southern Illinois (667), Marshall (677), Mercer (680) and The Citadel (706) in the 54-hole event.
Miami (605), East Tennessee State (606), Central Arkansas (610), Mississippi (611), Florida (612), Central Florida (613), Kentucky (614), host College of Charleston (617), Western Carolina (617), South Florida (618), Toledo (619), Oregon (621), Oral Roberts (621), Augusta State (622), Middle Tennessee State (623), Nebraska (623), Illinois State (625), Oregon State (628), William and Mary (628) and UNC Wilmington (628) occupy the top-20 positions.
Bruell (77-72?149) moved up from her first-round tie for 35th place to pull into a tie for ninth place in the 215-athlete field. Elon also saw notable improvement from Danielle Mills (80-75?155) who moved up from a tie for 84th to a tie for 51st, Tara McFadden (84-76?160) who moved up from a tie for 139th to a tie for 94th and Dani Mullin (88-79?167), who moved up from a tie for 179th to a tie for 151st.
Lady Mocs in 16th at Wildcat Invitational
PUERTO PENASCO, Mexico---Round two of the Wildcat Invitational was not kind to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s golf team as the Lady Mocs shot 320 to fall into 16th-place against a top-flight field. Chattanooga stands at 638 through 36 holes, six shots behind Tulsa in 14th.
Freshman Maria Juliana Loza, who shot the high round yesterday, led the Lady Mocs with a six-over par 78 to move to 164 overall. Fellow frosh Maria Salinas continues to pace UTC after a second round 81 puts her at 158, tied for 59th.
Sophomore Christine Wolf is next up for UTC after her second 80 puts her at 160, tied for 69th. Another sophomore, Emma de Groot is tied for 72nd at 161, while newcomer Moa Duf is tied for 77th with Loza at 164.
No. 3 UCLA continues to lead the event at 582 (+6) by three shots over No. 1 Arizona State at 585. No. 2 USC is in third at 589 (+13).
ASU’s Juliana Murcia is tied for the lead individually with Cal’s Pia Habig at two-under par 142. The Sun Devils Carlota Ciganda turned in the round of the day with a three-under par 69 move into a tie for third, one shot back at 143 (-1), with UCLA’s Stephanie Kono and New Mexico’s Jodi Ewart.
Tomorrow’s final round will be 18 holes.