Furman finishes 10th at Darius Rucker Intercollegiate
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Sophomore Taylor Totland (+8) scored a 76 to tie for 16th place to lead the 20th-ranked Furman women’s golf team Sunday in the final day of the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate at the par-71, 6,221-yard Long Cove Club.
The Paladins (+50) finished 10th at the tournament, which featured 11 of the last 14 national champions and 12 teams ranked among the top 20 in the latest Golfstat rankings. Seven of the nine teams that finished higher than Furman were tanked among the top 10 in the nation, and all nine were ranked in the top 16. Furman scored wins over two top-20 teams, No. 17 Vanderbilt (+53) and No. 19 Arizona State (+55), at the tournament.
No. 6 Duke (+6) set a third-round record by four strokes, carding a 282 on Sunday, to finish with a tournament-best 858. The Blue Devils beat No. 8 LSU (+15) and No. 3 Southern California (+15) by nine strokes to take the title. No. 16 Tennessee (+37) was fourth, while No. 2 South Carolina (+38) and No. 12 Wake Forest (+38) tied for fifth.
Totland, who entered the tournament ranked 13th nationally, scored a birdie on No. 13 and concluded the tournament 14 strokes back of individual medalist Madelene Sagstrom of LSU, the 12th-ranked player in the nation, who beat No. 7 Leona Maguire of Duke in a playoff after birdieing the 18th hole. The duo each scored a three-round total of 207.
Furman junior Valentina Romero (+13) notched a birdie on No. 5 to card a 78 on Sunday and tie for 39th, while rookie Alice Chen (+14), who led the Paladins with a 75 in the final round after birdieing No. 8, tied for 44th. Paladin freshman Reona Hirai (+16) carded a 76 on Sunday to tie for 54th, while rookie Jacqueline Bendrick (+25) tied for 75th after birdieing No. 15.
Furman will compete at the 3M Lady Jaguar Intercollegiate in Augusta, Ga., March 13-15.
The Citadel finishes second at Dayton Invitational
HILTON HEAD, S.C. – Citadel golfers Kellie Anderson, Cameron Little and Eraina Manor finished in an eight-way tie for fourth place as The Citadel capped off the Dayton Invitational in second place with a score of 323.
The tournament, which took place at the Berkeley Hall Golf Club on the South Course, marked the best team finish by the Bulldogs (+35) in the spring season as they closed five shots behind Appalachian State.
The trio of Anderson, Little and Manor all fired a round of 80 (+8) to close four shots behind individual winner Jenna DiPaolo (Dayton).
The Bulldogs also had a solid performance from Renata Sucha (85, +13), who tied the Flyers' Emily Connors for 15th.
Laura Simpson rounded out the Bulldogs' card with a 109 (+37).
Appalachian State (318) earned the team award with a second-place finish by Haley Zagoria (77) and fourth from Hannah Carver and Savanna Wood, both with 80s.
The Citadel returns to the course on March 15-16 when they head to Leland, N.C., to participate in the Cape Fear National Intercollegiate hosted by Appalachian State.