Oct. 9, 2011

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - For the second time this season, the Samford University women's golf team completed a 54-hole tournament with only 18 holes of play Sunday as the Bulldogs placed eighth at the rain-shortened LPGA Xavier Collegiate Invitational held at the par-72, 6,084-yard LPGA International Golf Course.

The annual LPGA Xavier Invitational was originally scheduled to encompass three days and 54 holes of competition. Due to incessant rain and soggy conditions at the LPGA International Golf Course, only the first round of play was completed Friday before the weather worsened.

The tournament's highly-competitive field included the following teams: Bethune-Cookman, Campbell, Daytona Beach, Florida Atlantic, Jacksonville, Lamar, Louisiana-Monroe, McNeese State, Mercer, North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Stetson and Xavier.

In Samford's lone round of the tournament, the Bulldogs carded a total team score of 317 Friday in what would eventually determine the final outcome of the event.

Samford finished the 2011 LPGA Xavier Collegiate Invitational in eighth place and was paced by junior Kayla Turner. Turner, the Bulldogs' native of Clarksville, Tenn., fired a first-round total of 76 and earned a tie for 13th place in the individual standings. Samford true freshmen Bailey Gray and Emily Stallings both tallied identical scores of 80 on Friday and finished tied for 33rd place in the competition.

Rounding out the Bulldogs' scoring this weekend were senior Sarah Butts and sophomore Natalie Mitchell. Butts concluded the tournament with a first-round score of 81, while Mitchell followed with an 18-hole tally of 84.

In its first tournament of the 2011 fall season, Samford also competed in a rain-shortened event at the Chris Banister Golf Classic which was hosted by Jacksonville State University in Huntsville, Ala., Sept. 4-6.

Samford dominated the sole round of competition and carded a tournament-best score of 294. The Bulldogs rallied for an eight-stroke victory against the second-place Jacksonville State Gamecocks and turned in the school's second best single-round score in history.

The Bulldogs finished the 2011 Chris Banister Golf Classic with four players in the top 10.

Samford's Turner and sophomore Alex Jasper both led the way with identical first-round scores of 1-over-par 73, while Butts and Mitchell both tallied marks of 2-over-par 74. Both Turner and Jasper finished tied for second place in the tournament, while Butts and Mitchell placed tied for seventh.

Stallings turned in a first-round tally of 79 in her first collegiate competition. She finished the tournament tied for 17th place.

This weekend, at the 2011 LPGA Xavier International, Campbell University claimed the championship title with an 18-hole total of 298. North Dakota State's Amy Anderson earned individual medalist honors with a 2-under-par 70.

The Samford University women's golf team will next be in action Oct. 24-25 as the Bulldogs continue their fall schedule with a trip to Germantown, Tenn., for the 2011 Memphis Tiger Invite. The two-day competition will be held at Ridgeway Country Club.