CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Georgia women’s team carded a 4-over 292 in Tuesday’s final round of the Cougar Classic at Yeamans Hall Golf Club, placing the Bulldogs in fourth place on the team leaderboard at 12-under 852.
“It was a very good start to the year and all we can do is build on it,” head coach Josh Brewer said. “If you would have told me before we got here that we would shoot 12-under and not tell me how that 12-under played out, I would have taken it in a heartbeat.”
Georgia opened the day with a 5-shot lead over the field; however, a hot start from Arkansas quickly closed that gap. The Bulldogs and Razorbacks went back and forth for much of the front nine before Arkansas played No. 9 and No. 10 at a combined 6-under to surge ahead for good.
“Today is a valuable lesson for us,” Brewer said. “We know we’re going to find ourselves in the same position this year. I’ m confident we’ll learn from today and produce a better outcome the next time we’re there.”
By finishing a dozen shots under par as a team, the Bulldogs tied the third-best 54-hole tournament score in program history. Georgia also shot 852 at the 2015 Windy City Collegiate.
Caroline Craig and Jo Hua Hung led Georgia with a pair of even-par 72s. The Bulldogs also counted a 73 from Jenny Bae and a 75 from Isabella Holpfer while dropping Caterina Don’s 76.
Overall, Bae finished third individually at 8-under 208. Bae equaled her career-best 54-hole score she also shot at the SEC Championships last spring. In addition, Hung tied for 19th at 1-under 215, Craig and Holpfer both tied for 29th at 217 and Don tied for 36th at 219.
Following Arkansas at 23-under 841, Baylor finished second at 842. Rounding out the top-10 teams on the leaderboard were Florida at 851, the Bulldogs at 852, North Carolina and UCF both at 861, Vanderbilt at 866, Clemson at 869, Miami at 872 and Furman and Wisconsin at 877.
Brooke Matthews lapped the field to win medalist honors at 25-under, 13 shots better than runner-up Krista Junkkari from North Carolina.
The Bulldogs will return to action in 10 days when they tee off at the Mason Rudolph Championship at the Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin, Tenn.
“We’re playing well. I’m happy we’re playing soon. We’re obviously very deep. It will be interesting to see the lineup we take because we have a lot of people who can contribute to this team.”
Tuesday’s Final-Round Standings
Team Leaderboard
| Arkansas | 284-281-276=841 |
| Baylor | 285-283-274=842 |
| Florida | 287-280-284=851 |
| Georgia | 286-274-292=852 |
| North Carolina | 289-284-288=861 |
| UCF | 285-282-294=861 |
| Vanderbilt | 295-284-287=866 |
| Clemson | 293-284-289=869 |
| Miami | 297-284-291=872 |
| Furman | 295-287-298=877 |
| Wisconsin | 295-291-291=877 |
| Michigan State | 291-287-300=878 |
| Penn State | 291-293-296=880 |
| N.C. State | 301-289-291=881 |
| Tennessee | 294-294-295=883 |
| Maryland | 301-293-293=887 |
| Charleston | 305-290-294=889 |