ATHENS, Ga. — The Georgia women’s golf team defeated Arkansas, the defending SEC Champions, in the third-place match of the 47th annual Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic on Saturday. The Bulldogs bested the Razorbacks, 3-2, behind victories from their three freshmen.
“It’s always good to get a win,” head coach Josh Brewer said. “To beat the defending SEC Champions is special. I think it’s massive. We’ve played well at times this year, but in this sport you don’t always get rewarded with a win. We picked up two this weekend and were really close to a third. We’re going to use that to our advantage. You just feel better about yourself coming off a victory. You have a little pep in your step, and we’ll head over to Birmingham with a lot of confidence.”
Georgia will open play in the SEC Championships next Wednesday at the Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham.
Jo Hua Hung, who joined the Georgia roster in January, defeated All-American Dylan Kim, 4-and-3; Jenny Bae, who also enrolled at UGA this semester, knocked off Carla Gorlei, 2-and-1; and Harmie Constantino topped Maria Hoyos, 1-up.
“We had a really great performance from Jo this week,” Brewer said. “She won all three matches and did so today in a dominating way over an All-American. Jenny picked up her first win in solid fashion, and Harmie won a great match too. I think (Jenny and Harmie) were both a little mad at themselves yesterday and realized how much a win or a half was because it could have helped us beat South Carolina. It’s nice to see that motivation help us pick up a win and beat Arkansas to give us momentum heading to the SEC Championships.”
The Bulldogs’ freshmen never trailed in their matches on Saturday.
Hung won No. 1 when Kim bogeyed and then took No. 3 to go 2-up. Kim captured No. 8, and the duo turned with Hung 1-up. Hung added to that margin by winning No. 10, No. 11 and No. 13 to move to 4-up. She clinched the victory after halving No. 14.
Bae led 1-up early before being all-square through No. 6. She then took No. 7, No. 8 and No. 9 to turn at 3-up. After dropping No. 10, she halved the next six holes to clinch the victory.
Constantino was either 1-up or all-square through the first 14 holes before winning No. 15 with a birdie. She maintained that edge through the final three holes.
Hung won her Friday matches by 2-and-1 and 1-up scores. In 50 holes of match play, she trailed only once for one hole.
“Jo continues to get better,” Brewer said. “I’m a coach so she still has to improve. At the same time, she’s working on the things we want, and she’s very stoic out there. She kind of dominated all three of her matches. It let’s me know headed to SECs that we’ve got someone who can get us a point. Once we get to match play, if we can just get two more, we’ll keep advancing. I hope she rides this momentum and has a perfect record for the entire spring.”
South Carolina, which edged Georgia 3-2 in Friday’s semifinals, defeated Augusta, 3-2, to earn the Liz Murphey team title.