Chattanooga
Round 3
Mocs Capture First Title of 2010-11 at Lady Paladin Invitational
10/31/2010 4:33:00 PM | Women's Golf
GREENVILLE, S.C. --- Three top 15 finishers led the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's golf team to the championship of the Lady Paladin Invitational at Furman Golf Club. The three-day total of 915 was 14 shots better than second-place Georgia State at 929.
"It's a great way to cap off the fall," said head coach Colette Murray. "We came here knowing we could win it and that's just what we did. We'll work on a few things over the winter months and be ready to build on this in the spring.
"Our play got better every day," noted Murray. "It's great to see the girls continue to work and improve each round."
The Mocs two seniors, Emma de Groot (Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia) and Christine Wolf (Igls, Austria), led the team to its eighth title in their career. The twosome has been key to the immediate success the program has enjoyed since being re-instated in the fall of 2007.
de Groot notched the 20th top 10 of her career finishing fourth at 226 (+10). Her 73 (+1) today tied for the low individual round of the day. She finished just three shots out of a playoff for medalist honors.
Wolf finished in a tie for fifth earning her third top 10 of the year in five events. She fired an 11-over par total of 227 for her 12th career top 10.
For the second straight event, Jordan Britt (Dayton, Tenn.) ended up in the top 15. She had five birdies on her final round with a solid result of 74 (+2) to end up tied for 14th at 233.
Yushira Budhram (Johannesburg, South Africa) just missed her second top 20 of the fall tying for 21st at 236. Maria Juliana Loza (Bucaramanga, Colombia) tied for 38th with a 54-hole total of 240.
It was a total team effort. Over the three rounds, a different student-athlete led the squad starting with Wolf's 74. That was followed by Budhram's second-round 73 which was low for the tournament yesterday, while de Groot was low today.
Only two schools (Georgia State - 14 and Nova Southeastern - 18) finished within 20 strokes of Chattanooga. UTC beat fifth-place host Furman by 24 and for SoCon rival East Tennessee State by 31 among the 17 teams in the field.
Nova Southeastern's Sandra Changkija defended her individual title winning a two-hole playoff over Georgia State's Charlotte Lorentzen as the duo finished at 223 (+7). Sian Evans (ETSU) was third at 224 (+8).
The Mocs return to action in February at the Kinderlou Forest Challenge. The tourney is played at Kinderlou Forest Golf Course Feb. 25-27 in Valdosta, Ga.
LEADERBOARD
|
1) Chattanooga |
305-308-302 |
915 (+51) |
|
2) Georgia State |
302-320-307 |
929 (+65) |
|
3) Nova Southeastern |
307-318-308 |
933 (+69) |
|
4) Longwood |
310-318-309 |
937 (+73) |
|
5) Furman |
310-320-309 |
939 (+75) |
|
6) Rollins |
316-309-318 |
943 (+79) |
|
7) East Tennessee State |
317-316-313 |
946 (+82) |
|
8) James Madison |
316-328-308 |
952 (+88) |
|
9) Samford |
308-320-325 |
953 (+89) |
|
10) USF |
312-324-318 |
954 (+90) |
|
11) Middle Tennessee |
319-323-313 |
955 (+91) |
|
12) Jacksonville |
318-326-322 |
966 (+102) |
|
13) Wofford |
330-321-318 |
969 (+105) |
|
14) Mercer |
324-326-325 |
975 (+111) |
|
15) Presbyterian |
324-332-326 |
982 (+118) |
|
16) Detroit Mercy |
332-329-335 |
996 (+132) |
|
17) Winthrop |
331-333-334 |
998 (+134) |
|
Mocs: |
||
|
75-78-73 |
226 (+10) |
|
|
T5) Christine Wolf |
74-76-77 |
227 (+11) |
|
T14) Jordan Britt |
78-81-74 |
233 (+17) |
|
T21) Yushira Budhram |
85-73-78 |
236 (+20) |
|
T38) Maria Juliana Loza |
78-82-80 |
240 (+24) |
NOTES:
>The Mocs played with Georgia State and Nova Southeastern defeating each by 5 and 6 strokes, respectively, today.
>8th team title for Chattanooga, all under Murray in the three-plus years of the program.
>Chattanooga is one of three SoCon teams in the field with Furman and Samford...Beat the Paladins by 24 and the Bulldogs by 38...UTC is 5-0 against SoCon rivals so far this year with a 171-stroke advantage (34.2 strokes per win).
>UTC is one of three Tennessee schools competing...The Mocs topped East Tennessee State by 31 today and Middle Tennessee by 40.
>Front Nine (Counters by Round): +18 (+7/+4/+7)...de Groot was -1 on the day, +1 for the tourney on holes 1-9.
>Back Nine: +33 (+10/+16/+7)...Britt's even par total today was low on this side for the Mocs.
>de Groot was low for the Mocs today making it 3 straight days with a different low golfer for Chattanooga...Wolf led the opening round with a 74, while Budhram's second round 73 was the team's best.
>de Groot was solid with two birdies and three bogeys finishing 4th, 3 shots off the lead...2nd top 10 of 2010, 20th of her career...Her 73 tied for low round of the day.
>Wolf's tie for 5th is her 3rd top 10 of the fall...12th top 10 of her career.
>Britt notched her second straight top 15...Today's 74 included a team-high 5 birdies and was just 1 shot shy of the low round of the day (73 - de Groot)...Only had 1 score higher than bogey for the tournament...7 birdies overall is team's best.
>Eagles (Counters by Rounds): 0 (0/0/0).
>Birdies (Counters by Rounds): 26 (5/9/12). Britt 7 (2/0/5), de Groot 6 (1/3/2), Budhram 6 (0/4/2), Wolf 5 (0/2/3), Loza 4 (3/0/1)...12 birdies today is the 2nd highest total in a round this season (13 - Mercedes-Benz Championship 2nd round).
>Pars (Counters by Rounds): 123 (47/41/35). Wolf 35 (16/11/8), de Groot 33 (13/7/13), Britt 30 (10/14/6), Loza 25 (8/9/8), Budhram 23 (6/9/8)...Fewest par in a round with 35 and tournament (123) this season.
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