South Florida, Georgia State's Lorentzen Claim Lady Paladin Invitational Titles
Greenville, S.C. -- The University of South Florida (+69) posted the low round of the weekend, a 14-over 302, to rally past East Tennessee State (+70) and Georgia State (+80) to claim first place on Sunday in the Lady Paladin Invitational at the Furman University Golf Course. Georgia State's Charlotte Lorentzen (+6) used a final round 71 to capture individual medalist honors.
South Florida's final round 302 helped the Bulls rally from a seven-stroke deficit on the final day of the 54-hole tournament and edge the Buccaneers by a single stroke. Georgia State slipped to third place with a 318 while Nova Southeastern (+82) finished fourth and Augusta State (+86) and Samford (+86) tied for fifth place.
Christina Miller (+11) of South Florida fired a final round 70 to move from 13th to second on Sunday while pacing the Bulls to the title. Lorentzen, however, birdied three of her first eight holes and played even par on the back nine to pull away for the five-stroke victory.
Furman (320-324-311=955) claimed a seventh place finish after beginning the final round in ninth place. Freshman Daffodil Sanchez (+24) led the Paladins with a two-over 74 on Sunday to rally for a top 25 finish while Laura Wearn (+16) managed a share of eight place after a third round 78 and Liz Wendt (+21) placed 18th with a final round 76.
Full tournament results and statistics are available at www.FurmanPaladins.com and at www.GolfStatResults.com.
SAMFORD WOMEN'S GOLF EARNS TOP-FIVE FINISH AT LADY PALADIN INVITATIONAL
--- The Bulldogs were led by Mitchell and Stallings at the three-day, 54-hole competition ---
GREENVILLE, S.C. --- The Samford University women's golf team tallied its fourth top-five finish of the 2011 fall season Sunday as the Bulldogs concluded the 40th Lady Paladin Invitational tied for fifth place at the par-72, 6,160-yard Furman University Golf Course.
Samford turned in its best round of the tournament Sunday with a final-round score of 310. With the Bulldogs' day-three performance, they carded a total team score of 950 (316-324-310). Samford finished the tournament in a tie for fifth place with Augusta State (321-322-307=950).
The University of South Florida (+69) posted the low round of the weekend, a 14-over 302, to rally past East Tennessee State (+70) and Georgia State (+80) to claim first place at the Lady Paladin Invitational. Georgia State's Charlotte Lorentzen (+6) used a final round 71 to capture individual medalist honors.
USF's final-round 302 helped the Bulls rally from a seven-stroke deficit on the final day of the 54-hole tournament and edge the Buccaneers by a single stroke. Georgia State slipped to third place with a 318 while Nova Southeastern (+82) finished fourth and Augusta State (+86) and Samford (+86) rounded out the top five.
Individually, Christina Miller (+11) of USF fired a final-round 70 to move from 13th to second place Sunday while pacing the Bulls to the team title. Lorentzen birdied three of her first eight holes and played even par on the back nine to pull away for the five-stroke victory.
Samford was paced over the weekend by sophomore Natalie Mitchell and true freshman Emily Stallings. Both Mitchell and Stallings concluded the 54-hole tournament with identical scores of 235 and finished tied for 14th place in the individual standings.
Mitchell posted her best round of the tournament Friday with an opening round score of 76. She closed out the competition with an 80 on Saturday and a 79 on Sunday. Stallings, the Bulldogs' newcomer from Fayetteville, Ga., carded scores of 77, 80 and 78, respectively over the weekend.
Senior Sarah Butts overcame a slow start to the Lady Paladin Invitational to post a final three-round mark of 241 (86-79-76). After an opening-round score of 86, the Bulldogs' native of Carrollton, Ga., rallied back to post a 79 on Saturday and a 76 on Sunday.
Samford's Kayla Turner tallied a 78 in the final round of competition to finish the weekend with a 54-hole score of 243 (77-88-78). Fellow-junior Anna Heim turned in her best round of the competition Sunday with a 78. Heim concluded the three-round tournament with a final score of 250 (87-85-78).
This weekend's 2011 Lady Paladin Invitational was Samford's final competition of the fall season. The Bulldogs will next be in action Feb. 27-28, as they begin play in the 2012 spring season at the USA Lady Jaguar Invite to be held at the Azalea City Golf Course in Mobile, Ala.
Phoenix Golf Team Places 10th at Lady Paladin Invitational
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- In an 81-golfer field, Elon's Martyna Mierzwa posted a three-round score of 239 (78-82-79) to help the Phoenix to a 10th-place showing in the team's final fall event. Elon ended the tournament with a 981 (324-329-328).
Over her three rounds of play, Mierzwa recorded four birdies on her way to finishing in a tie for 22nd.
Just two strokes back was Shannon Prunty who ended the tournament in a tie for 26th with a 241 (80-78-83). Prunty had one birdie in each of her three rounds.
In a tie for 44th was Virginia Mayer who carded a 247 (81-84-82). Mayer also had three birdies. She was followed by Kristi Ingram who shot a 256 (85-85-86) to tie for 59th and Lauren Lebak who finished in a tie for 67th with a 258 (88-86-84).
Charlotte Lorentzen of Georgia State took home medalist honors with a tournament score of 222 (77-74-71).
South Florida, rated 80th in the nation, rallied on the final day to win the team title. The Bulls posted a 933 (315-316-302) to edge 81st-ranked East Tennessee State (308-316-310--934) by a stroke. No. 58 Georgia State (314-312-318--944) was third while NCAA Division II No. 1 Nova Southeastern (319-317-310--946) finished fourth. In a tie for fifth with scores of 950 were No. 45 Augusta State and SoCon rival Samford.
Other SoCon programs in the event included host, and 82nd-rated, Furman (7th, 955), Appalachian State (11th, 983) and Wofford (15th, 1006).
The 15-team field also featured ranked programs in No. 76 Longwood (8th, 958) and No. 72 James Madison (9th, 972).
Women's Golf Concludes Fall Competition
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Appalachian State University women's golf posted a 328-334-321=983 (+119) at the Lady Paladin Invitational to finish 11th. The Mountaineers finished strong at the season-ending event and placed just two strokes behind 10th place.
Junior Lauren Smith (Salisbury, N.C./UNCG) led Appalachian with a 77-78-79=234 (+18) and tied for 12th place in the 81-golfer field. Her eight birdies at the event tied for the third most in the field.
Rumbidzai Masamvu (Harare, Zimbabwe/Dominican Convent) finished eight strokes behind in a tie for 29th place at 79-82-81=242 (+26) and Yue Xu (Beijing, China/HuiJia Private School) carded an 84-82-82=248 (+32) to tie for 46th.
Mimi Burke (Mooresville, N.C./Cannon School) finished in 69th place with a 88-92-79=259 (+43) and Elena Thomas (Waxahachie, Texas/Waxahachie) also finished strong in Sunday's final round with a 92-95-84=271 (+55) to finish 78th.
South Florida narrowly earned the team title at 933 (+69), one stroke ahead of ETSU.
Georgia State's Charlotte Lorentzen ran away with the individual medal with a 222 (+6), five strokes ahead of second place.
Competing from the Southern Conference, Samford tied for fifth place at 950 (+86), host Furman finished seventh with a 955 (+91), Elon edged the Apps by two strokes at 981 (+117) in 10th place and Wofford carded a 1006 (+142) to finish 15th.
The 54-hole event concluded ASU's five-tournament fall slate. The Mountaineers return to action in the spring and compete for the SoCon Tournament title on April 15-17 at Hilton Head, S.C.
Appalachian's complete spring schedule will be released in the coming weeks.
Chattanooga Ends Up 17th at Landfall Tradition
Chattanooga native Jordan Britt overcame a slow start to shoot 73 (+1) to lead the Mocs on the day
WILMINGTON, N.C. --- The Chattanooga Mocs women's golf team finished 17th at the Landfall Tradition Sunday afternoon on the Country Club of Landfall. Chattanooga shot 318 in its final round for a three-day total of 955.
Jordan Britt (Chattanooga, Tenn.) was low for the Mocs on the final day with a one-over par 73. She was five over through five holes (starting 18 in a shotgun start) before turning around her round. She birdied the par three sixth and eagled the par four ninth to get back to plus two. She parred the rest of the way until a birdie on the par five 17th provided her plus one finish.
Britt was third on the squad for the tourney at 241. Marion Duvernay (Publier, France) led the way at 237, which tied for 45th. Britt and Duvernay tied for the low round by a UTC golfer at 73, with Duvernay's coming in the first round.
Mette Kryger (Nivaa, Denmark) was one behind Duvernay at 238. Maria Juliana Loza (Bucaramanga Colombia) wound up at 246, while Michaela Gasplmayr (Ebenfurth, Austria) had to withdraw after beginning her round on 18. She was one of four Mocs who began the event battling injury or illness.
Purdue won the team title shooting 904 to top No. 3 Auburn (918) by 14 shots. No. 16 Ohio State was 15 strokes back in third at 919.
The Boilermakers' Paula Reto claimed medalist honors at two-over par 218. Victoria Trapani (Auburn) and Alajandra Cangrejo (Duke) tied for second with five-over totals of 221.
UTC has completed the fall portion of the schedule. It opens 2012 at the Kiawah Island Intercollegiate which is played February 26-28 at Osprey Point at Kiawah Island.
Women's Golf Wraps up Fall Season at Lady Paladin Invitational
GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Wofford women's golf team finished in 15th at the three-round, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Lady Paladin Invitational over the par 72, 6,160 yard Furman University Golf Course.
Wofford finished with a 326-335-345-1006 in the 15th place. South Florida won the event with a 315-316-302-933.
The Terriers were in tenth after round one, 11th after round two but fell to 15th after a tournament high 345 final round.
Sarah Hurt led the way with a 77-82-82-242 to finish tied for 29th, while Anne Marie Covar followed with an 82-78-88-248 for a tie for 46th. Luaren Dunbar carded an 82-88-87-257 for a tie for 64th, and Tarah Taylor entered the clubhouse in a tie for 69th with an 85-87-87-259. Alex Hendricks rounded out the Wofford golfers with an 88-89-91-268 in 76th.
This was the final fall tournament for the Terriers, who will return to action when they open their spring season with the Spider Spring Break in Wilmington, N.C. on March 10 through March 11.