April 16, 2011
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -
The Samford University women's golf team will begin play in the 2011 Southern Conference Championship Sunday at 7 a.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs look to make waves in the 11-team event being held at the immaculate Moss Creek Golf Club's North Course in Hilton Head Island, S.C.
This is the third straight year that the par 72, 6,005-yard course has hosted the SoCon Championship as Chattanooga became the fourth different school in the past five seasons to win the event in 2010. The Mocs edged College of Charleston by eight strokes and return their top three finishers from the event this season.
The winners of the past three individual championships will compete again in 2011. Furman senior Stefanie Kenoyer, who won in 2008 and 2009, looks to become the first three-time champion in tournament history while Appalachian State sophomore Yue Xu, who stormed to a three-stroke victory as a freshman last year, looks to repeat as medalist.
Chattanooga is led by 2010 runner-up and top 100 ranked Emma de Groot and enters the tournament as the top rated SoCon team, sitting 35th nationally in the latest Golfstat rankings. Furman, which has won 13 of 17 tournaments in league history, sits second at 64th and is looking to improve on a fifth-place finish from a year ago.
Western Carolina (71) and College of Charleston (90) are also top 100 teams, according to Golfstat. Other schools competing in this weekend's event include Samford, Appalachian State, The Citadel, Elon, UNC Greensboro and Wofford.
The Bulldogs enter this week's competition with a full head of steam after they registered their fourth top-five finish in as many outings throughout the 2011 campaign at the Pinehurst Challenge on April 5. With the completion of the final round, Samford notched a fourth-place finish at the Pinehurst Challenge being hosted by College of Charleston at the Pinehurst No. 6 Golf Course.
Prior to their fourth-place finish, the Bulldogs were coming off a pair of championship titles at the USA Lady Jaguar Invitational and the Samford Intercollegiate, as well as a runner-up finish at the 2011 Low Country Intercollegiate.
The Bulldogs carded a team score of 320 to complete the three-round competition with a total tally of 949 (310-319-320). Host school College of Charleston earned the championship title with a 54-hole total of 913, while Minnesota finished second at 925 and Jacksonville State placed third with a team score of 944.
Individually, Samford's Sarah Butts finished fifth in the talent-laden tournament with a three-round tally of 230 (77-76-77). College of Charleston's Leigh Whittaker won the individual medalist award as she blew away the competition with a 54-hole score of 3-over-par 219 (73-75-71). Whittaker topped a trio of second-place performers by eight strokes.
The Bulldogs' true freshman Natalie Mitchell earned the team's second-best finish. Samford's native of Germantown, Tenn., completed the tournament with a three-round score of 239 (75-84-80), while teammate Anna Heim finished just one stroke behind at 240 (75-82-83).
At last season's SoCon Championship, Samford rallied from behind to earn a fourth-place finish in the event. On the final day of competition, the Bulldogs carded the best score of the round with in a total team mark of 298 at the Moss Creek Golf Club. Samford's tally was its best of the three-day competition.
The winner of the SoCon Championship will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The tournament tees off at 7 a.m. (CDT) Sunday and fans can follow the action at http://golfstatresults.com/public/index.cfm?tournament_id=2208.
