Troy University Athletics
Troy University
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Women's Team Bounces Back In Rain-Soaked Event
9/25/2007 5:00:00 AM | Golf
MONROE, La. ? The Troy University women's golf team bounced back on Tuesday after two sub-par rounds on the first day of the ULM Fred Marx Invitational.
The Trojans, led by sophomore Desirae Zine, who finished in a three-way tie for 11th overall in the tournament, shot a team score of 320 on Tuesday despite playing the entire round in a steady rain.
"We played well today, in spite of the conditions, which were horrible," Troy coach Matt Terry said. "It rained all night last night and all day today and the course was covered in water. I am very pleased in that we played much better today."
The Trojans dug themselves into a huge hole on Monday when, in good weather, the team shot consecutive rounds of 320 and 331 to fall into 14th place in the 16-team field.
"I was embarrassed by the way we played on Monday, but it was my fault," Terry said. "We talked going into this tournament about putting ourselves in position to win, and when things went bad early in the first round, the players got down on themselves and it just snowballed.
"They let their play in the first round affect their second round and were never able to get out of it."
Zine, a native of Vaccaville, Calif., shot a team best round of 74 in Monday's opening round, but came back with an 81 in the second round. She fired a 76 today in the rain to finish with a 15-over score of 231.
Freshman Liz Balkcom (Juliette, Ga.) turned in the only other round under 80 for Troy with a second round 79. She finished the tournament in a tie for 57th with a 29-over-par score of 245.
Sophomore Kaley Branton (Cartersville, Ga.) finished 63rd with a score of 246 while junior Danielle Skipper (Cullman, Ala.) finished 67th with a score of 249. Sophomore Alyssa Laneuville (Port Charlotte, Fla.) finished tied for 83rd with a score of 271.
As a team, Troy finished 13th in the tournament, which was won by Sun Belt Conference member Arkansas State with a score of 917. South Alabama finished second, five shots back, and three times ? Central Arkansas, Samford and Jacksonville State ? finished in a tie for third 11 shots off the lead.
