STOCKBRIDGE, Ga. – The University of South Alabama women's golf team shot a tournament-low 301 during round three and placed third out of 17 schools in Georgia State's John Kirk Panther Intercollegiate at the Eagle's Landing Country Club.
Siti Shaari and Julie Hovland each shot a three-over-par 75 in Tuesday's final round. Shaari ended the tournament with a three-round total of 219 and tied for third place in a field of 87 entries. Hovland's tournament total of 224 tied the freshman for eighth overall.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Event (Host): 25th Annual John Kirk Panther Intercollegiate (Georgia State)
Dates: March 25-27 (Sunday-Tuesday)
Format: 54 holes (18/18/18)
Start Time: 7:30 a.m. (CST) March 25 and 26; 8 a.m. March 27
Course: Eagle's Landing Country Club (par 72, 6,043 yds)
Results
TEAM SCORES
1) Jacksonville 299-295-288 – 882 (+18); 2) Murray State 302-296-302 – 900 (+36); 3) South Alabama 304-304-301 – 909 (+45); 4) Western Kentucky 317-300-300 – 917 (+53); 5) Tulsa 310-306-302 – 918 (+54); 6) Georgia State 309-307-306 – 922 (+58); 7) Eastern Kentucky 317-298-311 – 926 (+62); 8) Winthrop 315-309-309 – 933 (+69); 9) Samford 315-319-303 – 937 (+73); 10) Florida Gulf Coast 322-306-311 – 939 (+75); 11) Elon 309-311-320 – 940 (+76); 12) Alabama-Birmingham 324-320-309 – 953 (+89); 13) Morehead State 328-314-313 – 955 (+91); 14) James Madison 329-306-322 – 957 (+93); 15) Appalachian State 317-328-317 – 962 (+98); 16) Western Michigan 333-312-324 – 969 (+105); 17) Central Michigan 340-342-319 – 1,001 (+137)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
T1) Amanda Detmer, Jacksonville, 74-74-70 – 218 (+2); T1) Maria Brunzell, Jacksonville, 74-71-73 – 218; T3) Michelle Forsland, Jacksonville, 74-74-71 – 219; T3) Siti Shaari, South Alabama, 72-72-75 – 219; T5) Lucila Puente Rodriguez, Murray State, 77-75-70 – 222; T5) Linette Holmslykke, Murray State, 76-70-76 – 222; T5) Georgina Blackman, Western Kentucky 77-72-73 – 222; T8) Ashley Sloup, Winthrop, 71-78-75 – 224; T8) Maria Donado, Alabama-Birmingham, 75-74-75 – 224; T8) Julie Hovland, South Alabama, 75-74-75 – 224
SOUTH ALABAMA SCORES
T3) Siti Shaari, 72-72-75 – 219 (+3); T8) Julie Hovland, 75-74-75 – 224 (+8); T21) Madison Connell, 77-80-74 – 231 (+15); T33) MacKenzie Peyton, 80-78-77 – 235 (+19); T63) Lexi Worrell, 81-82-81 – 244 (+28)
TEE SHOTS
-USA senior Madison Connell led the Jaguars in round three scoring with a two-over-par 74. It was Connell's lowest round of the tournament and moved her to a T-21st finish. She was even on par-5 holes and carded five birdies in the tournament.
-MacKenzie Peyton also shot her best round of the tournament, a five-over-par 77, to tie for 33rd individually. She played 32 holes at par and recorded five birdies in three rounds.
-Shaari played 36 holes at par (T4), recorded 8 birdies (T7) and finished in the top five in par-3, par-4, and par-5 scoring. The freshman tied for first overall on par-3 holes, averaging 3.00 (E). She tied for fourth overall in both the par-4 (4.20 average, +6) and par-5 (4.75, -3) categories.
-Hovland and Lexi Worrell tied for third on par-3s with 3.08 averages (+1). Hovland also averaged 4.92 (-1) on par-5s and tied for eighth in number of pars with 35. She carded seven birdies in the competition.
-The Jaguars tied for first in total pars (163) and finished fifth in number of birdies (26). The team placed second in par-3 scoring (3.17 average, +8) and fifth in par-4 scoring (4.38 average, +57).
THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Matt Luther
On the team's tournament performance and third-place finish… "It was a solid week. We fought tough conditions and a good field and didn't play our best golf but were still able to finish third. This team has shown that its best golf can win and its 'B' game can still hang around the leaderboard, which is good."
On the team's best performance in round three and Shaari's top-five finish in every category… "The best round at the end is a testament to this team's toughness. It would have been easy to give up this week and we fought hard all week. Siti had another good week. She had a couple of hiccups early today, but was still right there with a chance to win on the back nine. She hit a lot of good putts today that didn't fall and that's how this game goes sometimes."
On how to keep the team focused entering an almost-two-week break… "We've got a couple of weeks until Lamar's tournament and then the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. We'll continue to do what we do: work hard, learn, grow and compete. We have time to address some technical issues that arise after three straight weeks of tournaments, especially playing in the cold and wind this week. We'll get back home to the sunshine and hit the reset button on a few things and get ready for our next event."
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).
Join the Chip In Club, the women's golf specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. All donations to the Chip In Club go directly to support the South Alabama women's golf program. For more information on how you can join visit: jaguarathleticfund.com/chipinclub.
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