MOBILE. Ala. – The South Alabama women's golf team closed out the USA Intercollegiate with a program-low 54-hole figure of 877 (+13) besting the previous record 890, set at the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Championship and the 2016 USA Women's Invitational, by 13 strokes. The Jaguars shot 288 during round one, posted 297 for round two and shot a 292 during the final round of play.
Freshman Siti Shaari closed out the tournament with a team-low 69 (-3) to go with her two even par 72s during to score 213 (-3) during her first collegiate tournament. The 213 mark ties a program 54-hole record set by Fanny Eineren in 2013.
TEAM SCORES
1) Tulane 290-288-279—857 (-7); 2) Lamar 296-277-294—867 (+3); T3) South Alabama 288-297-292—877 (+13); T3) Alabama-Birmingham 288-292-297—877 (+13); 5) Troy 295-291-297—883 (+19); 6) Western Kentucky 296-291-300—887 (+23); 7) McNeese State 302-296-292—890 (+26); 8) Texas-Arlington 302-300-302—904 (+40); 9) Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 322-297-299—918 (+54); 10) Samford 311-309-305—925 (+61); 11) Alabama State 304-313-313—930 (+66); 12) Lipscomb 324-312-311—947 (+83); 13) West Florida 317-328-305—950 (+86).
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
1) Eva Martinez, Lamar, 72-66-69—207 (-9); 2) Mary Joiner, WKU, 72-71-69—212 (-4); T3) Siti Shaari, USA, 72-72-69—213 (-3); T3) Maria Donado, UAB, 69-70-74—213 (-3); T5) Ava Schwienteck, UTA, 73-72-69—214 (-2); T5) Elodie Chaplet, Lamar, 74-68-72—214 (-2); T7) Jennifer Rosenberg, Tulane, 73-70-72—215 (-1); T7) Gabrielle Correia, Tulane, 71-75-69—215 (-1); T9) Chanelle Avaricio, ASU, 72-75-70—217 (+1); T9) Bianca Lohbauer Troy, 76-71-70—217 (+1); T9) Olivia Le Roux, Lamar, 72-70-75—217 (+1).
SOUTH ALABAMA SCORES
T3) Siti Shaari 72-72-69—213 (-3); T10) Caroline Berge, 70-75-75—220 (+4); T23) MacKenzie Peyton 75-76-73—224 (+8); T33) Julie Hovland 78-74-75—227 (+11); T37) Lexi Worrell, 71-81-77—229 (+13).
TEE SHOTS
-Shaari led USA in birdies with 10 for the tournament.
-Shaari tied for the tournament best-scoring on par threes with a 2.83 scoring average.
-Junior MacKenzie Peyton and freshman Caroline Berge scored 36 pars each.
-Hovland leads USA in pars with 25 through 36 holes.
-Berge posted 10 birdies, second-most on the team
-Hole 16 saw only 10 of 74 scores over-par during the final round.
THEY SAID IT
Head coach Matt Luther
On the record setting day: "Didn't know what to expect from three freshmen going into the season. They've set the bar high and I'm excited for the rest of the year."
On looking forward to the rest of the season: "The best part of this week is that we are just scratching the surface. All three of our freshmen played well, good golf out of Lexi (Worrell) and MacKenzie (Peyton) is miles ahead of where she was the first two years. Sky is the limit."
Up next: The Jaguars travel to Greenville, N.C., for the Pirate Collegiate on Sept. 25 and 26.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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