Furman shoots school-record round to win Florida State Match-Up
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The 26th-ranked Furman women’s golf team recorded the best round in school history Sunday to win the third annual Florida State Match-Up Tournament at the par-72, 6,236-yard Southwood Golf Course.
The Paladins (+12) fired a 281 in the tournament’s final round, besting the former Furman record of 283 that was recorded at the 1995 NCAA Championships and tied last fall at the 2014 Lady Paladin Invitational, to defeat four teams ranked among the top 25. Ninth-ranked Mississippi State (+19) tied for second with No. 17 Virginia (+19), while No. 2 South Carolina (+20) took fourth place. No. 16 Texas A&M (+21) and Kennesaw State (+21) tied for fifth.
Furman sophomore Taylor Totland (-2), a native of Tinton Falls, N.J, carded back-to-back birdies on No. 4 & No. 5 to make the turn at 1-under then notched two additional birdies on the back, firing a 71 in the final round to tie for first place with Bianca Fabrizio (-2) of Texas A&M, who carded a 73 Sunday for a three-day total of 214. On the second hole of the playoff, Fabrizio clinched individual medalist honors after sinking a 40-foot birdie.
Freshman Alice Chen (+3) birdied three holes on the front to make the turn at 3-under and carded a 71 in the final round to tie for 11th place, while rookie Jacqueline Bendrick (+6) led the field with a 68 on Sunday after eagling No. 10 and tallying six birdies to tie for 19th. Junior Valentina Romero (+7) tied for 20th after firing a 71 with two birdies in the final round, and rookie Reona Hirai (+19) tied for 54th overall to round out the Paladin slate.
The Paladins will compete at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate in Hilton Head, S.C., March 6-8.
ETSU finishes 10th at FSU Match-Up
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Following three days of play in the Florida State Matchup at the Southwood Golf Course, the ETSU women’s golf team ultimately finished where it started, posting a 10th-place finish in the event after Sunday’s third and final round.
Facing a tournament field that included No. 2 South Carolina, No. 9 Mississippi State, No. 16 Texas A&M, No. 17 Virginia, No. 26 Furman, No. 38 Florida State and No. 42 Coastal Carolina, the Buccaneers were unable to get the consistently strong play they needed to advance on the leaderboard.
Junior Vivienne Chin posted the team’s low round of the day and the best finish on the individual leaderboard for the Bucs. Chin fired a 3-over-par 75 on Sunday to finish tied for 46th. Meanwhile, sophomore Rachel Pollock was the only other ETSU player to post a score in the 70s thanks to a 5-over 77 and finished 52nd.
As for the rest of the tournament field, the Bucs’ fellow Southern Conference member Furman took home the team title by outlasting No. 9 Mississippi State by seven strokes. The Paladins posted a final team score of 12-over-par 876.
The Bucs will return to action on March 23 in the Briar’s Creek Invitational at John’s Island, S.C.