University of Tennessee Athletics
Florida and Lewis Take SEC Golf Titles
April 20, 2008 | Women's Golf
SEC Championship Results (PDF)??|??Photo Gallery??
LOUDON, Tenn. - The University of Florida secured its eighth SEC women's golf title today, carding a tournament-low 284 on the last day of the 2008 conference championship tournament, tying for the fourth-lowest round in school history. The Gators totaled 874 strokes, 17 less than second-place Arkansas. The 54-hole event was held over the weekend at Tennessee National Golf Club in Loudon, Tenn.
"It's a big relief [to win] because this team and this group just kept preserving through tough times and through their four years," Florida Head Coach Jill Briles-Hinton said. "They matured and became tougher and stronger so it's rewarding, very rewarding."
"You can't expect anything in the SEC," Briles-Hinton said. "You just have to keep chugging away and stay focused and worry about one shot at a time. The girls started out pretty solid, had a little lull and then did really well coming in today."
Stacy Lewis, the defending NCAA national champion, won the individual crown. She was ahead at the end of each day with scores of 69, 73 and 72.
"I'm very happy with my performance," Lewis said. "To struggle like I did the last couple of days and still win is huge. I'm just going to go back and work on a few things and get ready for the national championship. I'm going to try to repeat."
Lewis was unable to finish the SEC tournament last year, as she aggravated an old back injury after the first round. With the win today, the senior becomes the fourth player to claim two SEC titles, doing so as a freshman in 2005 as well. Shauna Estes of Georgia won in 1997 and 1999 and Kristy McPherson from South Carolina took the crown in 2001 and 2002. Florida's Deb Moore won three championships from 1982-84.??
"For the first [SEC title], I kind of didn't really know where I stood and played really well the last round," Lewis said. "This one, I was kind of in the lead the whole time. I wanted to try to make this one a little easier but I didn't seem to do that."
Today's win was Lewis' sixth of the year. She came in first at the Stanford Intercollegiate (Oct. 19-21), the UA Ann Rhoads (Oct. 26-28), the Lady Puerto Rico Classic (Feb. 24-26), the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Classic (March 17-19) and the Bryan National Collegiate (March 28-30).
Florida was the top-ranked team in the field coming into the tournament, as head coach Jill Briles-Hinton's squad was No. 5 in the polls. The squad earned runner-up honors at last year's conference championship just six strokes behind Georgia. The Gators also won the team title in 1981-82, 1984, 1986-97, 1991 and most recently in 1995.
Florida has been successful in East Tennessee this year, winning the Mercedes-Benz Women's Collegiate Championships in the fall. Sandra Gal won the individual crown that weekend. The Gators also recorded victories at the SunTrust Lady Gator Invitational (Feb. 22-24) and the Bryan National Collegiate (March 28-20).
Florida's Hannah Yun is a also had her best competition at UF's home tournament, the Lady Gator. She had a career low of 214, a mark she was merely one stroke off of today. She had the best round of the 60-player field on the second day, recording a two-under-par 70 and moving up to second place. In addition to her score of 73 on the first day and a 72 in round three, the 16-year-old freshman totaled a one-under-par 215 to take second.
Florida's Tiffany Chudy tied for third going into the final round and came out sixth. She was toward the top of the leader board all tournament, and was tied for fourth after the first round. She tied for a last-place 58th with a 30-over-par 246 in 2007. She recorded scores of 76,87 and 83 last year.
She won her first tournament as a Gator at the Lady Gator Invitational this year. The home team put together a school-record setting 849 total, which included its lowest single round in school history, a 280 on day one.
The 16th-ranked Lady Vols moved up two spots on the final day, finishing in eighth. The squad took nine strokes off its second-round score by posting a 303 today. In addition to its scores of 316 and 312 on the first two days, the team accumulated a 931 total.
"I caught some flashes of our old team today," Lady Vol Head Coach Judi Pavon said. "I'm really proud of them for hanging in there. It's hard to play poorly at home, but they went out there determined to play better today. I have confidence that we'll be able to get our team ready to play well at regionals and advance to the NCAA Championships."
The Lady Vols were led by senior Marci Turner on each of the three days. The Tompkinsville, Ky., native ended up in 11th with a 222 (73-75-74) total. Today, she carded three birdies.
Lady Vol Ginny Brown recorded a career-best 74 on the final day of the tournament. In addition to her first two scores of 85 and 82, she finished tied for 46th with a 241. The Austin, Texas sophomore had an eagle on the par-four 16th hole, her second of the year.
"I'm very proud of Marci Turner," Tennessee Head Coach Judi Pavon said. "She had another good SEC Championship. I know she didn't play as well as she would have liked, but she has been a great competitor for us during her career. Also, Ginny Brown had the lowest round of her career which really helped out the team today. It was a really good day for her to step up and play well."
I was happy that I could help out the team. Our goal was to break 300 today and although we didn't do that, we got pretty close. I was just glad I could be part of our score today."
"I was happy that I could help out the team," Brown said. "Our goal was to break 300 today and although we didn't do that, we got pretty close. I was just glad I could be part of our score today.
"I feel like I've been playing well but I just haven't been able to get it together and actually pull out a good score," Brown said. "I tried to focus on everything that I've been working on, not think about my score, have fun and not make any mistakes."
Sophomore Diana Cant?? continued to improve on the final day, as she signed her card with a three-over-par 75. The Monterrey, Mexico, product tied for 33rd with a 236 total (84-77-75). Cant??'s classmate, Angela Oh, tied for 40th with a 238 (80-78-80). Competing in just her fifth tournament as a Lady Vol, freshman Rebecca Watson tied for 49th. Her scores of 79, 83 and 80 gave her a 242 total.
The Lady Vols will head to the NCAA Regional Tournament, May 8-10. The tournament sites are Athens, Ga., Sacramento, Calif., and Austin, Texas. The NCAA Championship is scheduled for May 20-23 in Albuquerque, N.M.
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