HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – The Furman Paladins won their fourth straight Southern Conference Women’s Golf Championship, wrapping up a 33-over-par 897 at the Moss Creek Golf Club on Tuesday. Furman’s Reona Hirai claimed the individual title, posting a score of 6-over-par 222, defeating teammate Natalie Srinivasan by four strokes.
The Paladins have now captured 17 of the 25 SoCon championships. Due to a tiebreaker, Chattanooga claimed second overall, shooting a 67-over-par 931. Mercer, which also totaled 931, claims third place. Both Chattanooga and Mercer shot 306 as a team on Tuesday, with the round two scores of 317 and 318, respectively, determining the Mocs as runners-up. Chattanooga has finished either first or second for 10 straight years, placing second in the last four SoCon Championships.
Furman boasts five golfers in the top 10, including the winner of the 2018 Pinnacle Award, given to the student-athlete with the highest GPA on the winning team, Jacqueline Bendrick. Placing eighth overall, the senior from Mercer Island, Washington, is a biology major with a 3.973 grade point average.
Hirai improved her score each day, shooting a 75, 74 and a 73 in rounds one through three, respectively. Opening Tuesday’s championship round with a birdie on hole No. 1, Hirai looked primed for a strong finish. After bogeying hole three, the Summerville, South Carolina, native parred holes five through eight, but bogeyed hole No. 9. The senior would begin the back nine just as she ended the first, shooting a bogey on No. 10 to move to 2-over-par. Hirai settled in, however, parring the next two holes before getting a stroke back with a birdie on No. 13. Shooting even-par the rest of the way, Hirai finished with a final-round 73 to take home the championship.
Srinivasan, the 2017 SoCon champion and Freshman of the Year, shot a 74 on Tuesday, finishing second place overall. The Spartanburg, South Carolina, native birdied hole No. 2 but double-bogeyed hole six. Srinivasan responded with a birdie on No. 8 but gave the stroke back on hole nine. Srinivasan birdied No. 16 but ended the round with a pair of bogeys, posting a final-round 74.
Furman’s Haylee Harford and Alice Chen finished tied for third along with Mercer’s Payton Schanen. Chen, who was the runner-up in each of the three previous SoCon Women’s Golf Championshipsp, becomes the second golfer in the history of the conference to finish in the top three four times. Schanen, the leader after day one, finished the tournament strong with a score of 73.
As a team, Samford shot an 18-over-par 306 to finish fourth overall (+88). UNCG placed fifth with a total score of 964 (+100) and ETSU finished sixth overall with a score of 965 (+101).
Wofford finished the tournament in seventh place (+115), while The Citadel (+175) and Western Carolina (+200) round out the field.
Much like Hirai, Wofford’s Nicole Chin bettered her score in each round en route to a sixth-place finish. After opening the tournament with a 79 on Sunday, the senior from Irmo, South Carolina, posted a 77 on Monday and finished with a 74 on Tuesday. Entering the back nine 2-over, Chin bogeyed No. 12 but birdied No. 16 to shoot even par after the turn.
Chattanooga’s Monica San Juan claimed sole possession of seventh place, while teammates Holly Morgan and Megan Woods finished tied for ninth. Hannah Mae Deems and Terese Romeo of Mercer also finished tied for ninth, shooting 17-over-par 233 for the tournament.
Furman earned the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA regionals which will be held May 7-9. The NCAA field will be announced live on the Golf Channel at 5:30 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, April 25.
2018 Southern Conference Women’s Golf Championship
Moss Creek Golf Club
Par-72, 6,105 yards
Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Top 10 individuals R1 R2 R3 Total
1. Reona Hirai, Furman 75 74 73 222 (+6)
2. Natalie Srinivasan, Furman 74 78 74 226 (+10)
T3. Haylee Harford, Furman 80 74 73 227 (+11)
T3. Alice Chen, Furman 77 76 74 227 (+11)
T3 Payton Schanen, Mercer 73 81 73 227 (+11)
6. Nicole Chin, Wofford 79 77 74 230 (+14)
7. Monica San Juan, Chattanooga 77 80 74 231 (+15)
8. Jacqueline Bendrick, Furman 75 81 76 232 (+16)
T9. Megan Woods, Chattanooga 77 79 77 233 (+17)
T9. Holly Morgan, Chattanooga 76 76 81 233 (+17)
T9 Hannah Mae Deems, Mercer 78 76 79 233 (+17)
T9. Terese Romeo, Mercer 79 78 76 233 (+17)
Team standings R1 R1 R3 Total
1. Furman 301 302 294 897 (+33)
2. Chattanooga 308 317 306 931 (+67)
3. Mercer 307 318 306 931 (+67)
4. Samford 319 327 306 952 (+88)
5. UNCG 326 320 318 964 (+100)
6. ETSU 323 328 315 965 (+101)
7. Wofford 330 328 321 979 (+115)
8. The Citadel 349 350 340 1039 (+175)
9. Western Carolina 375 341 348 1064 (+200)
2018 SoCon Individual Champion
Reona Hirai, Furman
2018 Pinnacle Award Recipient
Jacqueline Bendrick, Furman