Trojans Finish 7th at SBC Championship

Monday, April 18

Muscle Shoals, AL

Troy University

Middle Tennessee State University

Photo by: Ricky Hazel

4/20/2011 4:52:19 PM | Golf (W)

By: Ricky Hazel

FINAL RESULTS: PDF | HTML | ONLINE PHOTO GALLERY

MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. – The Troy University women's golf team went into Wednesday's final round at the Sun Belt Conference championship with the goal of bettering the programs' best ever team score in the event.

The Trojans needed a 303 in the final round to set that mark, and posted that exact score to finish the tournament with a team score of 913, good for seventh place.

Denver won the Sun Belt title for the eighth consecutive year by shooting a 292 on Wednesday to finish at 875 for the tournament, holding off second place Middle Tennessee (880) by five shots. UALR (887) finished third followed by North Texas (889) and FIU (892).

Arkansas State (898) finished sixth, led by individual tournament champion Anna Carling, who closed with a two-under par round of 70 to tie Karisa Akin of Middle Tennessee at one-under par 215. Carling took the medalist honors on the first playoff hole.

Troy junior Haley Lawrence finished just outside the top 10 with a final round score of one-under par 71. She birdied two of her final three holes and just missed another birdie on her final hole, which kept her from a tie for ninth.

“We played pretty well today,” Trojans coach Matt Terry said. “Haley throwing up a 71 was big for us. She played solid all day. The girls were solid top to bottom. We got off to a very good start early with some birdies. It was a nice championship and to see us nip that low score by one shot was a goal for the day.”

Troy's performance in the final round moved the Trojans past South Alabama in the final standings.

Troy opened the final round at “The Schoolmaster” course at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail facility on the back nine, which Terry said gave his team a chance to get off to a good start.

“I think it helped a little starting on the back,” Terry said. “You open with a little par three where you can make birdie and then have two par fives where you can birdie. That gave us some holes to ease into the round and then try to not make too many mistakes coming in. We had a couple of hiccups here and there today, but played pretty well overall.”

Lawrence said she was happy with her final round in the tournament, even though she said she had a chance to post a score in the 60s. Her round included a birdie on the par three 16th hole that she almost holed out for an ace.

“It was a nice round where I was actually hitting it close,” Lawrence said. “I am not sure how I didn't get into the 60s today because I was getting so close. I almost had a hole in one and that was nice, and I almost had a few eagles. I had a birdie try on the last hole to get to 70, and gave it a run, but couldn't get it to go.”

In addition to Lawrence, who finished tied for 11th, the Trojans got a tie for 19th from freshman Signy Arnorsdottir after a final round score of 77 during which she had trouble with her putter. Sophomore Sofia Bjorkman finished strong after struggling early. She had three double-bogeys and was eight-over par at the turn but played her second nine at one-under par for a 78.

Senior Liz Balkcom closed out her college career with a 77 to tie for 43rd in the championship and sophomore Sara Fennvik finished with a 78 in a round that included three double bogeys and 15 pars.

“We had Sara Fennvik had three doubles on the day, but she made 15 pars,” Terry said. “That is so hard to do. Sofia Bjorkman played pretty well, but had a couple of doubles herself. Signy did not putt as well as she wanted to. She missed a short one on the last hole to finish with a 77. Liz had a couple of hiccups with her putter, but played well for her final round of championship competition.”

Terry said the Trojans' consistent play in the championship bodes well for the team for the future with four of the five players scheduled to return next year.

“It is going to be good,” Terry said. “We have five new players coming in next year. It is going to be exciting in the fall because we have set a bar for ourselves and we have to continue to get better because this league is getting better and better.”

2011 Club Glove Sun Belt Conference Women's Golf All-Conference Team

Malin Lundberg, UALR
Megan Vaughn, UALR
Anna Carling, Arkansas State
Kelly Drack, Denver
Ellie Givens, Denver
Cristina Marin, FIU
Katie Mundy, FIU
Karisa Akin, Middle Tennessee
Kelsey Kipp, North Texas
Chandra Alexander, North Texas
Jacey Chun, North Texas
Addison Long, North Texas