MELBOURNE, Fla. — Senior Jenny Bae and junior Caterina Don notched fourth- and sixth-place individual finishes, respectively, to lead the Georgia women’s golf team to fifth place in the Columbia Classic presented by Moon Golf. The 54-hole event at Duran Golf Club wrapped up on Monday.
“Jenny and Caterina had really solid tournaments,” head coach Josh Brewer said. “For them, those were only their fifth and sixth competitive rounds of golf since we finished the fall season at Stanford so they’re really still working their way back in competition shape. This week was a really good start to the spring.”
Georgia completed play at 888, eight shots off the pace of Virginia Tech, after closing with a 301. The Hokies bested Texas Tech by a stroke followed by No. 2 Oklahoma State at 884 and Illinois at 886. There was a 10-shot gap between the Bulldogs and the rest of the field.
Bae, Jo Hua Hung and Candice Mahé all signed for 75s on Monday, while Don’s 76 rounded out the Bulldogs’ counting scores.
Overall, Bae finished at 1-over 217, three shots behind medalist Isabella Fierro of Oklahoma State. Don shot 219, followed by Hung in 24th at 227 and Mahé and Isabella Holpfer both in 27th at 228. Zoë Walker, who competed as an individual, tied for 52nd at 236.
Monday’s round was played under extremely windy conditions, with scores climbing more than 2.5 strokes per golfer over Sunday’s second round.
“The conditions today were about as tough as we’re going to face all year I hope,” Brewer said. “It was a really good day or golf for us. We gave ourselves a chance to finish in a better position. When you want to win, and winning is obviously what we want to do every time out, you have to put yourselves in a better position earlier. We’ll focus on that going forward.”
Georgia will return to action in exactly two weeks when the Bulldogs compete in the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate at Long Cove Club on Hilton Head Island, S.C.