HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. - The College of Charleston women's golf team turned in a runner-up finish playing one of its best tournament rounds on the final day of the 2011 Southern Conference Women's Golf Championship held Tuesday at the North Course at Moss Creek Golf Club.
The Cougars, ranked No. 85 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Women's Collegiate Rankings, shot a combined 305 (+17) in the final round, but No. 34 Chattanooga ran away from the 10-team field with a 30-hole advantage en route to the team championship for the second-straight season. A year ago, CofC was only nine holes shy of the Lady Mocs in the tournament title race.
All five CofC golfers shot two-over or better during the final nine holes including junior Leigh Whittaker (Baden-Baden, Germany) who birdied on Hole No. 14 to finish four-over on the day with a 76. She placed fourth overall (+13) and was named to the nine-member All-Conference Team.
Sophomore Ainhoa Nogales (Pozuelo de Alarcon, Spain) also finished among the top 10 with a final round of 76 to place in a four-way tie for seventh (+15). She was followed by sophomore Kathy Boehm (Poing, Germany) who was one stroke out of the top 15 with a 16th-place finish (+19).
"We really didn't play well on the front nine," CofC head coach Jamie Futrell said. "But, something happened and they kicked it into gear and played a great back nine. Overall, I'm very proud of them. They showed a lot of heart after struggling early. We could have been in fourth or fifth, but that's the reason why we finished second. They finished strong when things got really tight. Chattanooga was clearly the best team in the field and to finish second is a good accomplishment for us."
CofC will await an announcement if Whittaker will be one of six players in the region to qualify individually for the 2011 NCAA Division I Women's Golf East Regional Championship hosted by Stetson University on May 5-7 at the LPGA International Legends Course in Daytona Beach, Fla.
2011 SOUTHERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
April 17-19, 2011
North Course at Moss Creek Golf Club
at Hilton Head Island, S.C.
FINAL TEAM RESULTS
1, Chattanooga, 303-305-292-900 (+36). 2, College of Charleston, 313-312-305-930 (+66). 3, Furman, 320-311-303-934 (+70). 4, Western Carolina, 323-311-302-634 (+58). 5, Elon, 320-319-309-949 (+85). 6, UNC Greensboro, 311-319-326-956 (+92). 7, Samford, 323-325-319-967 (+103). 8, Wofford, 332-326-317-975 (+111). 9, Appalachian State, 331-319-329-979 (+115). 10, The Citadel, 346-351-352-1,049 (+185).
FINAL COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
4, Leigh Whittaker, 78-75-76-229 (+13). T7, Ainhoa Nogales, 77-78-76-231 (+15). 16, Kathy Boehm, 81-77-77-235 (+19). 22, Anna Martin, 80-83-76-239 (+23). T26, Vanessa Koechli, 78-82-82-242 (+26).
2011 ALL-SOUTHERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S GOLF TEAM
Yue Xu (Appalachian State)
Leigh Whittaker (College of Charleston)
Tara McFadden (Elon)
Stefanie Kenoyer (Furman)
Emma de Groot (Chattanooga)
Maria Juliana Loza (Chattanooga)
Christine Wolf (Chattanooga)
Josefine Sundh (Western Carolina)
Alex Rankin (Wofford)
