FINAL RESULTS

PRIMM, Nev..---It was a rollercoaster ride in the final round as the Chattanooga women's golf team finished third at the inaugural Golfweek Conference Challenge at the Primm Valley Casino Resort Desert Course on Tuesday afternoon.  The Lady Mocs final tally of 883 (+19) was the third-best total in the two-plus years of the program.

Pepperdine claimed the win at 881 (+17) topping the Lady Mocs by two and second-place Cal by one at 882 (+18).  Ohio State came in fourth at 884 (+20), while Oklahoma State ended up fifth with a 886 (+22).

Chattanooga stated the day with a two-shot lead on Cal, but that evaporated quickly.  The Bears played the first three holes at three-under par thanks in large part to a Diane Kwon eagle on the par-four second hole.

But the Lady Mocs answered just as quickly.  They surged back into a tie for the lead playing holes four through six at four-under par with birdies by Emma de Groot on four and Maria Salinas, Maria Juliana Loza and Christine Wolf on five.  At the turn, the Lady Mocs and Pepperdine were tied for first.

As the round progressed, it appeared to be a three-horse race.  Through 12 holes, Pepperdine moved ahead of the Lady Mocs by one shot, while the Bears were just one more back.  Through 15, the Bears held a one-shot advantage over the Lady Mocs and two shots over the Wave.

But it was Pepperdine in the end winning by one over Cal and two over the Lady Mocs.  The Waves shot an even-par 288 in the final round, while Cal shot 290 and Chattanooga 293, its best round of the three days.

Wolf, a junior, had her best tournament total in her collegiate career with an even-par 216, tying for third.  It is the seventh top 10 of her career and sixth top five.

Fellow junior de Groot shot a final round 73 to finish tied for 11th at five-over par 221.  She played her final 48 holes at plus one.  Salinas also tied for 11th at 221 following a 74 (+2), while Loza tied for 26th at 225 (+9).  Senior Kayla Stewart shot 238 (+22) after a final round 77.

Oklahoma State's Caroline Hedwall ran away with the individual title shooting 67 (-5) to end her 54 holes at nine-under par 207.  Hedwall finished five shots clear of UC Irvine's Joy Trotter whose 68 (-4) totaled her at 212 (-4).

The Lady Mocs return to the links Sept. 25-27 in Lexington, Ky., for the Bettie Lou Evans Fall Invitational at University Golf Course.

NOTES:

>Chattanooga played with Cal (290) and Pepperdine (288).

>The Lady Mocs scored 11 birdies after recording 12 in round one and five in round two for a total of 28 over three days.  Wolf's five led the Lady Mocs in round three.  Wolf's career-best 11 led the team for the tourney.

>The Lady Mocs had 61 pars to raise their two-day total to 181 led by Salinas with 39.  Loza and had the low total in the final round with 14.

>Chattanooga played par or better on 71 of 90 holes with Loza and Wolf scoring par or better on 15 holes each.  The Lady Mocs scored par or better on 78.9 percent of their holes for the event.  In round one, UTC posted 64 par or better holes, 71.1% and 73 of 90 in round two, 81.1% .  For the tournament, Chattanooga played par or better on 77.0 percent of its holes (208 of 270).

>Chattanooga on the front nine:  +4 (+5/round one, E/two & -1/three).  Back Nine:  +15 (+3/one, +6/two & three).  Wolf played one-under par on the back nine and one over on the front for the three days, while de Groot has played minus two on the front.