Golf Finishes Third At Golden Tigers Invitational
The #23 Brenau golf team placed two golfers in the top-ten to earn third place honors at the Golden Tigers Invitational hosted by Chattahoochee Country Club on Tuesday in Gainesville.
The team shot a two-day score of 334-326=660 to finish behind nationally ranked Cumberlands University (320-317=637) and Southeastern (Fla.) University (330-313=643).
"We got out paced by two very strong programs in Southeastern and Cumberlands, but we were not out of the tournament by any means after day one," said head coach Damon Stancil. "The team improved on day two, but it wasn't quite enough to move up from a third place finish."
Niquole Mangal placed sixth overall and led the Golden Tigers with a solid 81-77=158, while fellow sophomore Ashley Omidi earned tenth place with a 80-84=164.
Senior Sara Jane Bowers added the team's third top-20 finish by placing 19th with a total of 84-85=169.
Macie Hurst shot an 88-87=175 to tie teammate Megan Reddick for 25th place. Reddick shot 94 in the opening round, but improved her score by 13 strokes on day two to rally to shoot 175 for the tournament.
Amber Clayton (92-86=178) and LaKese Brown (88-93=181) placed 30th and 32nd respectively to round out the Brenau scorers.
"The team played some good golf over the last two days, but we are still coming up a bit short of our capabilities," added Stancil. "We just have to put it all together, much like we did this fall, and get back to playing some confident golf."
Southeastern placed the top individual scorer for the tournament as Valentina Espinosa (79-74=153) paced the field. Top-finishing Cumberlands added three of the top ten finishers en route to the tournament championship.
The University of Mobile took fourth place (670), while AAC foes St. Andrews (693), Truett-McConnell (697), Bryan (706), Union (734) and Reinhardt (742) placed fifth through eighth. Ave Maria (802) rounded out the field with a tenth place finish.
The tournament also served as Senior Day as the squad honored both Bowers and Brown for their tenure as Golden Tigers.
"Sara Jane Bowers and LaKese Brown have been so important to the development of this program," said Stancil of his graduating players. "Having a tournament winner like SJ sign in year two of the program was a huge boost in our team's ability to compete week in and week out. She has had many firsts for our program and has set the bar for wins, scoring and tournament awards for Golden Tigers golf."
"LaKese has been a stabilizing influence on our team over the last 3+ years, giving our team a boost on the scoreboard at times when we really needed it and has also been an important part of our team's chemistry."
Brenau next competes at the Phoenix Invitational, hosted by Cumberlands University at the Old Hickory Country Club in Old Hickory, Tennessee on March 26th and 27th.