COUGARS TURN IN SECOND TOP 5 FINISH OF SPRING SEASON AT BAREFOOT AT THE BEACH CHALLENGE
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Junior Leigh Whittaker (Baden-Baden, Germany) led the College of Charleston women's golf team to its second top 5 finish of the spring season on the final day of play at the inaugural Barefoot at the Beach Challenge held Tuesday at the par-72 Davis Love Course at the Barefoot Resort.
Whittaker tied for fourth on the individual leader board with a three-round score of 224 which was 8-over par for the tournament. As a team, the Cougars finished fifth among the competitive 15-team field with a 918 (+54) behind No. 56-ranked and tournament champion East Carolina (+27), No. 49 Wisconsin (+36), East Tennessee State (+39) and No. 68 Kennesaw State (+52). CofC previously finished tied for fifth at the Edwin Watts/Kiawah Island Classic on Feb. 20-22 in its season opener.
Individual medalist honors went to Fanny Wolte of East Carolina who shot a two-under par 214 including a tournament-low 69 in the first round. Sophomore Kathy Boehm (Poing, Germany) and sophomore Vanessa Koechli (Greer, S.C.) tied for 23rd with a 231 (+15) to round out the Cougar golfers who placed in the top 25.
"We probably did not play as good as we could have today," CofC Head Coach Jamie Futrell said. "But, it was another solid finish. Each of the top 6 finishing schools were about equal to each other and overall, it was a good tournament for us. We are playing very consistent golf right now and it was a real treat for our players to be able to play on such a great course this weekend in Myrtle Beach."
The Cougars will travel next to the LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic on March 11-13 at the University Club in Baton Rouge, La.
"We will build on what we did this weekend into our next tournament at LSU," Futrell said. "We know we will have to step-up the competition there, because we will be in situation where we will be playing against several top 20 and top 10 teams. We are a solid team, but we are still looking for one of those special days where everything goes right."
BAREFOOT AT THE BEACH CHALLENGE
March 6-8, 2011
Davis Love Course at Barefoot Resort
at Myrtle Beach, S.C.
FINAL TEAM RESULTS
1, East Carolina, 292-294-305-891 (+27). 2, Wisconsin, 308-294-298-900 (+36). 3, East Tennessee State, 310-298-295-903 (+39). 4, Kennesaw State, 310-299-307-916 (+52). 5, College of Charleston, 301-307-310-918 (+54). 6, Morehead State, 307-309-313-929 (+65). T7, Old Dominion, 311-307-312-930 (+66). T7, Campbell, 317-304-309-930 (+66). 9, Illinois State, 313-313-311-937 (+73). 10, Georgetown, 319-315-311-945 (+81). 11, Mercer, 315-326-309-950 (+86). 12, Appalachian State, 316-317-327-960 (+96). 13, Marshall, 326-314-321-961 (+97). 14, Charleston Southern, 320-322-340-982 (+118). 15, High Point, 335-340-329-1,004 (+140).
FINAL COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
T4, Leigh Whittaker, 71-76-77-224 (+8). T23, Kathy Boehm, 77-77-77-231 (+15). T23, Vanessa Koechli, 77-77-77-231 (+15). T32, Ainhoa Nogales, 77-77-80-234 (+18). T41, Anna Martin, 76-81-79-236 (+20). T58, Regina Rosas*, 83-80-81-244 (+28). 74, Kathryn Miranda*, 83-84-88-255 (+39). 82, Walker McLear*, 85-86-90-261 (+45).
ASU Women's Golf Concludes Barefoot at the Beach
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - After a pair of solid rounds on Sunday and Monday, Appalachian State University women's golf slipped in Tuesday's final round to place 12th at the Barefoot at the Beach Challenge. The Mountaineers finished with a 316-317-326=960 (+96) in the first tournament of the spring season.
Sophomore Yue Xu paced Appalachian with a 32nd place finish at 76-77-81=234 (+18), one stroke ahead of classmate Kristina Boo. Boo improved each round to place 37th at 81-79-75=235 (+19).
Rumbidzai Masamvu carded an 80-79-87=246 (+30) for 63rd place, while Mimi Burke finished 67th at 79-87-84=250 (+34).
Senior Kerri Dice placed 73rd with an 82-82-90=254 (+38) for the Apps.
East Carolina was one of five teams to add seven or more strokes to its team total between the second and third rounds, but held on for the team title at 292-294-305=891 (+27), nine strokes ahead of second-place Wisconsin.
ECU's Fanny Wolte maintained her lead throughout all three rounds to take the individual title at 69-75-70=214 (-2).
Host College of Charleston placed fifth at 918 (+54) as the only other competitor from the Southern Conference.
The Apps return to competition on March 20-21 at the Low Country Intercollegiate at Hilton Head, S.C.
Chattanooga Finishes Tied for 6th at SunTrust Gator Women's Golf Invitational
Senior Emma de Groot ends up tied for 3rd at +6, 216 to lead the Mocs
GAINESVILLE, Fla.---Chattanooga senior Emma de Groot (Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia) finished tied for third at the SunTrust Gator Women's Golf Invitational at Mark Bostick Golf Course at UF. de Groot carded a level par 70 in final round for a six-over par total of 216.
The tie for third is the third consecutive top five for de Groot and the 18th in her illustrious career. It is the 22nd top 10 in 41 events in her three-plus years.
"Emma played well," said head coach Colette Murray. "But I don't think we could've played any worse as a team. If we would've played for 54 holes the way we did for the first 12 and last seven, we'd have won the tournament. But we didn't."
The Mocs tied for sixth as a team with No. 11 Iowa State and Coastal Carolina. Today's 300 gave UTC a 54-hole total of 901as the Mocs made up five strokes on the Cylcones and Chanticleers.
Florida won its event at 865 (+25). The Gators topped Florida State (883) by 18 shots and Ohio State (895) in third by 30.
FSU's Hannah Thomson's even-par 210 won medalist honors with rounds of 69, 72 and 69. Vicky Villanueva (OSU) was second at 212 (+2), while de Groot paced a quartet of golfers at 216 (+6).
Freshman Marion Duvernay (Publier, France) finished tied for 25th in her first event as a counter at 227. The mid-season enrollee earned a spot in the lineup with her play at the Kinderlou Forest Challenge. Senior Christine Wolf (Igls, Austria) was third for the Mocs tying for 35th at 229.
Junior Maria Juliana Loza (Burcarmanga, Colombia) and freshman Yushira Budhram (Johannesburg, South Africa) rounded out the team scoring tying for 62nd at 236. Loza had the second lowest round of the day for Chattanooga behind de Groot at 74 (+4). Freshman Jordan Britt (Dayton, Tenn.) wound up tied for 67th at 238.
Murray added, "We know we when we need to knuckle down and get it done, we can. We just need to do that from the start."
The Mocs return to Florida later this week for the JMU/Eagle Landing Invitational at Eagle Landing Golf Club outside Jacksonville. The 54-hole event starts Friday, March 11 and ends Sunday, March 13. Live scoring can be followed at GoMocs.com.
LEADERBOARD
1) Florida 280-292-293 865 (+25)
2) Florida State 295-294-294 883 (+43)
3) Ohio State 299-300-296 895 (+55)
4) Colorado 300-296-300 896 (+56)
5) No. 22 Arkansas 298-296-305 899 (+59)
T6) Chattanooga 297-304-300 901 (+61)
T6) No. 11 Iowa State 302-294-305 901 (+61)
T6) Coastal Carolina 290-306-305 901 (+61)
9) Augusta State 307-302-302 911 (+71)
10) Kent State 296-314-303 913 (+73)
11) Texas Tech 304-303-307 914 (+74)
12) UCF 298-310-311 919 (+79)
13) Georgia State 308-294-326 928 (+88)
14) James Madison 307-312-318 937 (+97)
15) UNC Greensboro 308-317-315 940 (+100)
16) Stetson 320-321-305 946 (+106)
17) Missouri 315-313-319 947 (+107)
Mocs:
T3) Emma de Groot
73-73-70 216 (+6)
T25) Marion Duvernay
73-75-79 227 (+17)
T35) Christine Wolf
73-76-80 229 (+19)
T62) Yushira Budhram
78-81-77 236 (+26)
T62) Maria Juliana Loza
82-80-74 236 (+26)
T67) Jordan Britt*
74-86-78 238 (+38)
*Playing as an individual
UNCG finishes 15th in SunTrust Gator Women's Invite
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Reclaiming the form that guided her to one of the best performances in school history a year earlier, sophomore Courtney Taylor fired a 4-over-par 74 on Monday as the UNCG women's golf team finished in 15th place in the elite, 17-team SunTrust Gator Women's Golf Invitational at the University of Florida on Monday.
Taylor, whose total of 216 in last year's Lady Gator established a program record for a 54-hole event, started on the 13th hole at the 6,002-yard, par-70 Mark Bostick Golf Course and birdied No. 16 and No. 5 on Monday. She got back on track after a pair of 79s on Sunday.
Overall, UNCG defeated Stetson and Missouri in the tournament, which featured nine of the top 50 teams in the country.
"This was our first event of the spring, and I was pleased to beat two schools that are nationally ranked ahead of us," UNCG coach Emily Marron said. "The Lady Gator is a really strong field, and the course is demanding. Bee Sarabia had a nice start to her Spartan career with an opening-round 73, and Courtney Taylor had a nice closing day with a 74."
Taylor's finish tied her for 47th place among individuals. Her card was joined Monday by efforts from Lizzie Bundy (78), Sarabia (81) and Ana Martinez (82). The Spartans carded rounds of 308, 317 and 315 and finished six strokes ahead of the Hatters and seven better than the Tigers.
The Spartans, who, like the rest of the UNCG student body, are on spring break, will stay in Florida for another event. They'll tee it up in the JMU Eagle Landing Invitational in Jacksonville from Friday through Sunday. James Madison University hosts the tournament.
"We are looking forward to the JMU invite this weekend in Jacksonville," Marron said. "This event should give us some good momentum going into play there."
SUNTRUST GATOR WOMEN'S GOLF INVITATIONAL
Mark Bostick Golf Course, (Par-70, 6,002 yards)
Gainesville, FL
Team scores
1. Florida 865; 2. Florida State 883; 3. Ohio State 895; 4. Colorado 896; 5. Arkansas 899; t6. Iowa State 901; t6. Coastal Carolina 901; t6. Chattanooga 901. 9. Augusta State 911; 10. Kent State 913; 11. Texas Tech 914; 12. UCF 919; 13. Georgia State 928; 14. James Madison 937; 15. UNCG 940; 16. Stetson 946; 17. Missouri 947.
Individual scores
Top 10: 1. 1. Hannah Thomson (Florida State) 69-72-69--210; 2. Vicky Villanueva (Ohio State) 72-67-73-212; t3. Emma de Groot (Chattanooga) 73-73-70-216; t3. Charlotte Lorentzen (Georgia State) 74-64-78-216; t3. Emily Tubert (Arkansas) 76-71-69-216; t3. Jessica Wallace (Colorado) 75-68-73-216; t7. Evan Jensen (Florida) 69-73-75-217; t7. Isabelle Lendl (Florida) 68-77-72-217; t7. Mia Piccio (Florida) 72-73-72-217; t7. Kaitlyn Price (UCF) 67-76-74-217; t7. Maria Salinas (Florida State) 73-72-72-217.
UNCG golfers: t47. Courtney Taylor 79-79-74-232; t67. Begonia Sarabia 73-84-81-238; t74. Ana Martinez 80-78-82-240; t79. Lizzie Bundy 86-78-78-242;Erica Creed-76-82-DQ.