Chattanooga
Round 3
Chattanooga Laps Field Capturing Kinderlou Forest Challenge by Nine Shots
3/1/2011 5:18:00 PM | Women's Golf
VALDOSTA, Ga. --- Three top 10 finishers led the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's golf team to the Kinderlou Forest Challenge Championship Tuesday afternoon. Chattanooga won its second event of the season with a dominating performance shooting two-under par 290.
The Mocs started the round six shots behind Coastal Carolina, tied for second with Florida State. The 290 topped the Chanticleers by 15 shots, while FSU was 14 off UTC's pace. Chattanooga's 54-hole total of 896 won by nine strokes over second-place CCU and 13 clear of third-place Augusta State.
Freshman Yushira Budhram (Johannesburg, South Africa) shot two-under par 71 to finish in second place at level par 219. Budhram ended up one shot off the pace set by Augusta State's Casey Kennedy (218).
"Absolutely delighted with Yushi's play this week," said head coach Colette Murray. "She's always had it in her, but it has just taken some time to get adjusted."
She started her day with a birdie on one and was minus four after a birdie on 12. A bogey on 13 and double on 14 damaged her medalist hopes, but she closed with a birdie on 18. Kennedy, who started her day on the fourth hole, birdied her 17th hole (No. 2) and parred her last for the win.
Seniors Emma de Groot (Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia) and Christine Wolf (Igls, Austria) joined Budhram in the top 10. de Groot ended up fourth at three-over par, 222, while Wolf was seventh at plus six, 225.
Wolf began the round tied for 31st, but her career-best four-under par round of 69, moved her 24 spots on the leaderboard. The 69 ties for the low round of 2010-11, while also tying for the best score vs. par (-4).
Junior Maria Juliana Loza (Bucaramanga, Colombia) made it four Mocs in the top 20 tying for 19th at 230. Freshmen Jordan Britt (Dayton, Tenn.) and Marion Duvernay (Publier, France) rounded out the scoring. Britt tied for 50th at 239, while Duvernay ended tied for 47th (236) playing as an individual.
"It's great to get a win on the board right away," added Murray who now has nine wins in three-plus seasons. "We still have a lot of work to do, but it's the way you want to get started."
The Mocs topped a solid field of 14 teams ranked in the top 100 in the country. No. 12 Georgia withdrew due to illness. The Bulldogs played with four players instead of the usual five in the opening two rounds and lost a second player headeding into today. UGA was 20 shots behind Chattanooga going into today's round.
Other notable wins include SoCon rivals Furman (24 shots) and Western Carolina (35). 2010 NCAA Regional participants Coastal Carolina, Georgia, East Carolina (24), Florida State, Furman, Georgia State (34) and Texas Tech (42) were in the field.
Chattanooga returns to action this weekend at the SunTrust Gator Women's Golf Invitational, March 6-7, in Gainesville, Fla. de Groot is the defending medalist.
LEADERBOARD
|
1) Chattanooga |
305-301-290 |
896 (+20) |
|
2) Coastal Carolina |
303-297-305 |
905 (+29) |
|
3) Augusta State |
306-307-296 |
909 (+33) |
|
4) Florida State |
306-300-304 |
910 (+34) |
|
T5) East Carolina |
309-302-309 |
920 (+44) |
|
T5) Furman |
306-312-302 |
920 (+44) |
|
7) Georgia State |
309-307-314 |
930 (+54) |
|
8) Western Carolina |
304-319-308 |
931 (+55) |
|
9) UCF |
311-313-311 |
935 (+59) |
|
T10) Illinois |
313-320-305 |
938 (+62) |
|
T10) Texas Tech |
313-318-307 |
938 (+62) |
|
12) Kennesaw State |
319-317-308 |
944 (+68) |
|
13) Wisconsin |
309-333-312 |
954 (+78) |
|
DNF) No. 12 Georgia |
306-320-WD |
WD |
|
Mocs: |
||
|
79-69-71 |
219 (E) |
|
|
71-77-74 |
222 (+3) |
|
|
77-79-69 |
225 (+6) |
|
|
T19) Maria Juliana Loza |
78-76-76 |
230 (+11) |
|
T43) Marion Duvernay* |
73-81-82 |
236 (+17) |
|
T50) Jordan Britt |
81-79-79 |
239 (+20) |
*Playing as an individual
NOTES:
>Chattanooga's -2 round of 290 is just the second below par mark in program history and the 4th par or better round...It is the fourth best total as par is 73...290 is the 2nd-best round of the season (289 final round of Mercedes-Benz Women's Championship)...896 ties for the 8th best 54-hole total...+20 total is 5th all-time.
>It's UTC's 2nd win in a row (2010 Lady Paladin Invitational - Oct. 29-31)...9th win in three-plus years since Murray resurrected the program after it was ended in the mid-80's.
>The Mocs played with Coastal Carolina and Florida State...UTC beat both by 15 and 14 strokes, respectively...The round was a shotgun start with the Mocs starting on holes 1-3.
>Chattanooga is one of three SoCon teams in the field with Furman and Western Carolina...The Mocs are 8-0 against SoCon competition this season...UTC beat Furman by 24 and WCU by 35.
>Front Nine (Counters by Round): +19 (+14/+7/-2)...Budhram shot -3 today and was -7 on the front side over the last two rounds...Led team at level par for the nine.
>Back Nine: +1 (-1/+2/E)...Wolf was -3 today on this nine...de Groot led the team for the three rounds at -2, while Wolf shot -1.
>Chattanooga was -1 on the par 3s and -2 on the par 4s...Shot -1 on the par 5s for the week, +1 today.
>Budhram played last 45 holes at -6 after opening at +6 through nine holes...Tied for tourney lead with 11 birdies which also ties Mocs' season high (Christine Wolf/Jordan Britt)...-2 71 today is her 3rd par or better round, 2nd straight...71 is the 6th-best effort of the season by a UTC golfer...219 is the 4th lowest 54-hole total and is her best career total by 11 shots...Ended up with 11 birdies and 34 pars, both season highs...All 11 birdies came over final 31 holes...1st career top 10...Beat six top 100 golfers including No. 6 Marta Silva Zamora of Georgia (WD) and teammate Christine Wolf (86)...Led event in par 4 scoring (E)...Finished even on par 3s, 4s and 5s.
>4th-place finish is de Groot's 3rd top 10 this year, 21st career (40 starts)...2nd straight 4th-place (Lady Paladin)...10 birdies for the tourney is a season high...Beat six top 100 golfers including No. 6 Marta Silva Zamora of Georgia (WD) and teammate Christine Wolf (86)...Led tourney lead in par 3 scoring (-2).
>Wolf has counted in 40 straight rounds...5 birdies (ties season high) and 1 bogey on today's round, 4th time this season a Moc has recorded just one bogey...Last time was also Wolf in final round of Mercedes-Benz Women's Championship...4th top 10 this season, 13th career...69 is her career-low round.
>Loza led the team with 36 pars for the event...3rd top 20 of the season.
>Eagles (Counters by Rounds): 1 (0/1/0). Wolf 1 (0/1/0).
>Birdies (Counters by Rounds): 33 (8/10/15). Budhram 11 (0/6/5), de Groot 10 (4/2/4), Wolf 8 (2/1/5), Loza 4 (2/1/1), Duvernay 5 (2/1/2), Britt 5 (2/0/3)...Today's 15 team birdies sets a new season high top 13 birds at the Mercedes-Benz Women's Championship.
>Pars (Counters by Rounds): 133 (46/42/45). Loza 36 (10/13/13), Budhram 34 (13/10/11), de Groot 32 (12/11/9), Duvernay 32 (15/9/8), Britt 31 (11/12/8), Wolf 31 (11/8/12).
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