Final Results

GREENSBORO, Ga. – The University of South Alabama women's golf team finished tied for fifth, and Siti Shaari earned a top-five finish individually at the Reynolds Lake Oconee Invitational at The Landing Course Feb. 21-23.

South Alabama (305-303-295) turned in its lowest round of the tournament in round three to earn its first top-five finish of the season in a field of 14 teams. The Jaguars will return to action March 9-10 at the UNF Intercollegiate in Jacksonville, Fla.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Event (Host): Reynolds Lake Oconee Invitational (Mercer University)
Dates: Feb. 21-23 (Friday-Sunday)
Format: 54 holes (18/18/18)  
Course: The Landing Course
 
TEAM SCORES
1) Auburn, 293-284-279—856 (-8);  2). Mercer, 293-299-290—882 (+18);  3) East Carolina, 303-294-296—893 (+29);  4) North Florida, 307-295-294—896 (+32);  T5) South Alabama, 305-303-295—903 (+39);  T5) UNCW, 303-303-297—903 (+39);  7) Chattanooga, 305-306-298—909 (+45);  8) South Dakota State, 311-307-306—924 (+60)
9) Daytona State, 314-314-303—931 (+67);  10) East Tennessee State, 323-307-305—935 (+71);  11) Delaware, 320-316-302—938 (+74);  12) Wofford, 316-313-310—939 (+75);  13) Albany, 334-316-319—969 (+105);  14) UNC-Asheville, 341-334-323—998 (+134)

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
1) Megan Schofill, Auburn, 73-68-68—209 (-7);  2) Dorthea Forbrigd, ECU, 71-69-71—211 (-5);  T3) *Sara Mckevitt, UNF, 74-65-75—214 (-2);  T3) Mychael O'Berry, Auburn, 71-71-72—214 (-2);  T5) Siti Shaari, South Alabama, 72-73-70—215 (-1);  T5) Kaleigh Telfer, Auburn, 76-72-67—215 (-1);  7) Thao My Nguyen, UNCW, 69-74-73—216 (E);  8) *Kayley Marschke, Auburn, 77-73-68—218 (+2);  T9) Sydney Shrader, UNF, 72-70-77 (219) (+3);  T9) Grace Yatawara, ECU, 71-74-74—219 (+3);  T9) Payton Schanen, Mercer, 71-77-71—219 (+3)

*Denotes played as individual.

SOUTH ALABAMA SCORES
T5) Siti Shaari, 72-73-70—215 (-1);  T17) Julie Hovland, 74-76-73—223 (+7);  T40) Belinda May, 78-79-76—233 (+17);  T48) Nele Mattner, 83-75-79—237 (+21);  T58) Caroline Berge, 81-84-76—241 (+25);  T66) *Carlota Garcia, 89-78-82—249 (+33)

TEE SHOTS
- Shaari recorded her fourth top-five finish of the year, and her first since taking third place at the FIU Pat Bradley Invitational Oct. 20-22 in Bradenton, Fla. 
- Hovland recorded her second top-20 finish of the season, and first since finishing tied for seventh at the FIU Pat Bradley Invitational.
- South Alabama earned its first top-five finish of the season, bettering its previous sixth-place finish at the FIU Pat Bradley Invitational.
- Shaari finished at 1-under par in the tournament, marking the fourth of five events this season she has finished under par.
- The Jaguars ranked second in par four scoring (4.14) in the final round, and tied for second in birdies (15). 
- Shaari ranked tied second in par four scoring (3.80) in the final round, playing the par four holes at 2-under par. Additionally, Shaari carded six birdies en route to her 2-under par 70 in the final round, which ranked as the second-most birdies in round three. 
- Hovland recorded par at 16 of 18 holes in the final round, which tied for the most in round three.
- Mattner shot 3-over par 75 in round two, which tied her lowest round of the season. She finished at 2-over par 75 in each of the last two rounds of the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate.

QUOTES
Head Coach Matt Luther
- On the tournament:
"We're starting to figure some stuff out, so it's good to see scores get better round-by-round obviously. And stuff that we're working on, we are starting to see come into play. It's just good to know that we're moving in the right direction." 

- On difference in final round compared to first two:
"Just variance and stuff going our way – putts falling and tee shots kicking out of the bunkers instead of into the bunkers. We did a good job of doing what we're supposed to do and let the ball go wherever it goes. But putts fell and wedges spun close, stuff like that. We obviously have a lot of room to get better. We made a lot of silly mistakes still in the final round, which is great to still play that well and still have a ton of room to get better."

- On competing in two tournaments in the span of a week:
"It was great. It's not ideal to go back-to-back like that on the road, and with all the weather we had it was a long week. But we have a pretty tough crew and it was good to see. Everyone played hard for a whole week, and to see scores get better reflects that."

- On improvements he is seeing in the team:
"There are technical, specific skills we work on more in the beginning of the year that we translate into playing skills. We will tidy up those things and start playing more golf in the next couple of weeks, and shift into kind of a 'let's go shoot a score' mode. That generally happens for us around spring break, where we stop worrying so much about golf swing and more about playing golf."

UP NEXT
South Alabama will return to action March 9-10 at the UNF Intercollegiate in Jacksonville, Fla.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. 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.