Trojans Capture Second Straight Fred Marx Invitational

Monday, September 26

Monroe, La.

Troy University

University of Louisiana at Monroe

Trojans Capture Second Straight Fred Marx Invitational

9/27/2011 5:45:00 PM | Golf (W)

Team Sets Program Mark With 896 Score

By: Ricky Hazel

ULM/FRED MARX INVITATIONAL FINAL RESULTS: PDF | HTML

MONROE, La. – The Troy University women's golf team not only won its second straight ULM/Fred Marx Invitational on Tuesday at the Bayou DeSiard Country Club, the Trojans also posted a three-round score of less than 900 for the first time in the history of the women's program.

The Trojans finished the three-round event with a team score of 896, marking the first time a Troy women's team has ever broken 900 in a 54-hole tournament. Troy's final 896 was six shots better than tournament runner-up South Alabama, which finished second, and tied the tournament record set by Samford in 2007.

“We had two round of under 300 in this tournament and it is the first time we have broken 900 for a tournament,” Trojans coach Mat Terry said. “It is one of those barriers you have to break so that you can get to the point where Denver and North Texas have been.

“Hopefully we took another step toward getting better and getting to where those teams are. We still have a long way to go, but the girls are going to enjoy this.”

ULM coach Ashley Tonore and Langley Vannoy

Freshman Langley Vannoy finished tied for top individual honors in the tournament after slipping to a four-over par round of 76 on Tuesday. Vannoy lost medalist honors on the first playoff hole to Whitney McAteer of Northeastern (Okla.) State.

“Langley played well,” Terry said. “She had one three-putt, but it came on the 16th hole. It was an unforced error that cost her winning outright.

“I think there was some carry-over from her first tournament. The experience that she had there helped her to get out of her own way. She only had the one three-putt over the 54 holes, which is pretty solid.”

Troy senior Haley Lawrence also earned a top five finish in her first collegiate tournament of the year. The Prattville native had the 18-hole lead after an opening round two-under par 70, but closed with scores of 77 and 76 in the final two rounds to finish tied for fifth.

“Haley was thinking too much after shooting two under in the first round,” Terry said. “She is a little rusty, but it was a good first event back for her.”

Junior Sofia Bjorkman earned a second straight top 10 finish, closing with a three-over 75 in the final round to finish eighth.

“Sofia played well and hit it good,” Terry said. “She had one big number on number 10 when she hit a poor tee shot and she was never quite able to get it back from there.”

Another of the trio of freshmen to play in the event for Troy, Taylor McGraw, closed on Tuesday with a one-under par 71 to move into a tie for 13th place overall. Her three-round score of 228 left her just seven shots behind the tournament leaders.

Freshman Brooke Spinks, who was playing in her first collegiate tournament, made improvements in her score in each round and finished in 44th place.

“It means a lot to go back and defend your title,” Terry said of the back-to-back tournament titles for the Trojans at the Fred Marx Invitational. “The team has worked hard after their first event and it showed here. To get a win in just the second event of the year is good. We still need to putt better, and there are some other little things that we need to work on.”

The Trojans now have two weeks off before returning to action October 10-11 at the USF-Waterlefe Invitational in Bradenton, Fla.

“We have about eight or nine days before we travel again to another good golf course in Florida,” Terry said. “We had four players play really well this week and we need to work to find that fifth player to put in the van for the rest of these tournaments.”