HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – The Furman Paladins won their fifth straight Southern Conference Women’s Golf Championship, wrapping up a 27-over-par 891 at the Moss Creek Golf Club on Tuesday. Chattanooga’s Monica San Juan claimed the individual title, posting a 1-under-par 215, defeating runners-up ETSU’s Hee Ying Loy and Furman’s Haylee Harford by five strokes.
The Paladins have now captured 18 of the 26 SoCon championships. Due to a tiebreaker, ETSU claimed second overall, shooting a 41-over-par 905. Chattanooga, who also totaled 905, claims third place. ETSU shot a 298 as a team on Tuesday, improving its second round from Monday by six, to help lead it into second. Chattanooga shot a 300 and 304 on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, to also bring its total to 905. This is ETSU’s second time claiming second.
Furman boasts four golfers in the top 10. The Paladins also boast the winner of the 2019 Pinnacle Award, given to the student-athlete with the highest GPA on the winning team, Jacqueline Bendrick. Tying for 17th overall, the senior from Mercer Island, Washington, is an education major with a 3.9 grade point average.
San Juan shot under-par Sunday and Monday before shooting 2-over-par 74 on Tuesday to finish out the tournament. She started out the final round going even-par on the first three holes to help solidify her first-ever SoCon Championship women’s golf individual title. She was the only golfer in the field to play par or better for the tournament.
Starting the day tied for fifth, ETSU’s Loy shot a 2-under-par 70 on Tuesday to help her to a tie for second with Furman’s Harford. Harford shot 1-under-par 71 Sunday and Tuesday, with a team-high five birdies, including consecutive birdies on No. 17 and No. 18 to end the tournament, to help solidify her tie for second.
Carding two birdies on the day, Furman’s Natalie Srinivasan finished fourth overall. Mercer’s Karina Kukkonen, Samford’s Madeline Davis and Chattanooga’s Kirsty Beckwith, finished fifth through seventh, respectively. Furman’s Sarah-Eve Rheaume and Madison Moosa finished the tournament in a tie for 10th overall with matching 227s (+11).
As a team, Mercer shot a 308 to finish fourth overall (+47). UNCG placed fifth with a total score of 927 (+63) and Samford shot a 313, 308 and 308 the first, second and third days, respectively, finishing sixth overall.
Wofford finished the tournament in seventh place (+83), while Western Carolina (+133) and The Citadel (+149) round out the field.
Furman earned the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals, which will be held May 6-8. The NCAA field will be announced live on the Golf Channel at 5:30 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, April 24.
2019 Southern Conference Women’s Golf Championship
Moss Creek Golf Club
Par-72, 5,980 yards
Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Top 10 individuals R1 R2 R3 Total
1. Monica San Juan, Chattanooag 71 70 74 215 (-1)
T2. Hee Ying Loy, ETSU 71 78 70 219 (+3)
T2. Haylee Harford, Furman 71 77 71 219 (+3)
4. Natalie Srinivasan, Furman 73 74 73 220 (+4)
5. Karina Kukkonen, Mercer 75 73 74 222 (+6)
6. Madeline Davis, Samford 74 75 75 224 (+8)
7. Kirsty Beckworth, Chattanooga 79 72 74 225 (+9)
T8. Emily Uhland, Samford 75 74 77 226 (+10)
T8. Becca Earl, Wofford 81 74 71 226 (+10)
T10. Sarah-Eve Rheaume, Furman 77 77 73 227 (+11)
T10. Madison Moosa, Furman 75 76 76 227 (+11)
Team standings R1 R2 R3 Total
1. Furman 296 302 293 891 (+27)
2. ETSU 303 304 298 906 (+41)
3. Chattanooga 301 300 304 905 (+41)
4. Mercer 298 305 308 911 (+47)
5. UNCG 308 310 309 927 (+63)
6. Samford 313 308 308 929 (+65)
7. Wofford 317 315 315 947 (+83)
8. Western Carolina 341 321 335 997 (+133)
9. The Citadel 333 343 337 1013 (+149)
2019 SoCon Individual Champion
Monica San Juan, Chattanooga
2019 Pinnacle Award Recipient
Jacqueline Bendrick, Furman