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 Senior Ashley Hovda led Western to a second-place finish at the Lady Seahawk Invitational by posting her seventh, top 10 finish of the season. |
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March 28, 2006
UNCW Lady Seahawk Invitational Final Results
Cullowhee, N.C. - Despite shooting the third-lowest round on Tuesday, equaling its first round score of 308, the Western Carolina women's golf team was unable to hold onto the three-stroke advantage it enjoyed entering the final day, placing second at the UNC Wilmington Lady Seahawk Invitational at the par 72, 6,043-yard River Landing Golf Club. The Catamounts carded a 54-hole score of 908, the fifth-best three-round tally in school history, en route to setting a WCU school record with its eighth, top five finish of the season.
Leading up to this year, Western recorded seven, top five finishes during the 2002-03 Southern Conference Championship season, which included three, first place finishes and two runner-up tallies. Twice prior, the Catamounts tallied six top five finishes in a single season, accomplishing that feat in 2003-04 and 2001-02, each time winning three events. The women's golf team tied the school record with a trio of team titles in the first three events this season, marking the fourth-time ever that a WCU team has won three events in a season.
Kentucky, which stood sixth after two rounds on Monday, took home the top honors, shaving 11 strokes off its second round score to finish with a two-day, three-round total of 906. Western was two strokes in arrears at 908, followed by host UNC Wilmington (911) with Birmingham-Southern and East Tennessee State tying for fourth with identical scores of 919 to round out the top five.
According to Golfstat's rankings, Western finished better than two of the three teams which were ranked higher than it was entering the event. The Catamounts were better than Maryland (6th) and UNCW (3rd), which held rankings of 51 and 63, respectively, while WCU was ranked 83rd. Only Kentucky, which held a mark of 60, scored better.
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WCU Women's Golf team - Runner-up in the UNCW Lady Seahawk Invitational |
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Senior Ashley Hovda led the Catamounts as all five players scored inside the top 20 over the two-day event. Hovda slipped into a tie for sixth at the finish after carding a 77 in the final round to shoot 225, tied for the 11th-best, 54-hole score on WCU's all-time charts. Her score tied the fourth-best, three-round score of her career and her sixth-place was her seventh, top 10 of the season.
Swedish-born sophomore, Malin Fryk, jumped two positions over the final round, also shooting 77 on Tuesday to finish in a three-way tie for eighth with a 227, her career-best, 54-hole score. Fryk's score is tied for 17th-best on WCU's all-time three-round scoring charts.
Western's three remaining players all finished in a four-way tie for 20th shooting 233. Junior Bianca Melone, who was the only Catamount to break par over the three rounds, carded a 76 on the final 18 holes to slip to 20th, while both freshman Kandy Carland and senior Brandy Andersen improved from their Monday finishing order. Carland advanced two positions from 22nd while Andersen jumped 13 positions, also shooting 76 on Tuesday.
Western returns to action next Monday and Tuesday, April 3-4, as it competes in the High Point Spring Invitational in Wallburg, N.C.
Teams Scores 1 Kentucky 305 306 295 906 2 Western Carolina 308 292 308 908 3 N. Car. Wilmington 300 305 306 911 4 Birmingham Southern 298 307 314 919 East Tennessee State 302 308 309 919 6 Maryland 308 295 318 921 7 Ball State 310 316 309 935 8 Elon 305 316 315 936 9 Mercer 322 312 312 946 10 Richmond 307 319 323 949 11 James Madison 313 316 324 953 12 Southern Mississippi 318 311 332 961 13 Newberry College 341 332 331 1004
2 Western Carolina 308 292 308 908 T 6 Ashley Hovda 74 74 77 225 T 8 Malin Fryk 75 75 77 227 T 20 Brandy Andersen 85 72 76 233 T 20 Bianca Melone 81 71 81 233 T 20 Kandy Carland 78 77 78 233
