The Georgia Lady Bulldogs finished a distant sixth in the SEC Women’s Golf Championship at Greystone CC in Birmingham, ending the 54-hole event 30 strokes behind Alabama’s winning total of 859.
The Lady Bulldogs posted scores of 296-296-297 for a 25-over 888 total. They trailed by 10 shots after the first round and by 14 after 36, with Alabama pulling away in the final round with a 7-under 281 to finish five shots in front of runner-up Florida, which was tied for the lead with one round to play.
Freshman Jillian Hollis led Georgia, tying for 11th at 219, with junior Harang Lee T16 at 221. Freshman Bailey Tardy of Peachtree Corners shot 1-under 71 in the opening round, but closed with scores of 77 and 75 and tied for 23rd at 223. Roswell’s Rinko Mitsunaga, the third freshman in Georgia’s starting lineup, closed with back-to-back scores of 75 and placed 39th at 228.
Georgia closed out the regular season at home earlier in April, hosting the annual Liz Murphy Collegiate Classic, which featured three rounds of match play to give the Lady Bulldogs some experience in that format prior to the NCAA Championship, which will be played May 20-25 in Eugene, Ore.
The Lady Bulldogs placed second out of 12 teams in stroke play qualifying with an even-par 288 total, two shots behind UCLA. Lee was second individually in qualifying with a 69, with Tardy third at 70. Hollis shot 74, Mitsunaga contributed a 75 and sophomore Isabella Skinner of Cumming shot 76.
Georgia won its first match, defeating Purdue 3 ½ – 1 ½ with Lee, Tardy and Mitsunaga all winning their matches handily. Lee won 4&3, Mitsunaga scored a 3&2 victory and Tardy took her match 3&1. Hollis halved her match and Skinner lost.
The Lady Bulldogs finished 1-2 in match play, losing to Alabama 3 ½ – 1 ½ and to Southern Cal 4-1. Lee, who won all three of her matches, was the lone Georgia winner in the team’s final matches, with Hollis getting her second half against Alabama. Hollis and Tardy both lost 1-up against USC.
The Augusta women’s team, which does not belong to a conference, closed out its season with tournaments at Clemson and Ohio State.
The Lady Jaguars were eighth at Clemson with an 885 total, shooting 1-over 289 in the first round and 291 in the final round. Junior Teresa Caballer Hernani closed with a 5-under 67 at the Reserve at Lake Kiowee to tie for second individually at 210, two shots behind the winner.
Junior Eunice Yi of Evans tied for 36th at 224, with Roswell junior Jessica Haigwood shooting 71 in the first round before struggling the next two days.
Augusta shot 911 on the demanding Scarlett course at Ohio State to finish in eighth place. Junior Josefine Nyqvist led the Lady Jaguars, tying for 11th at 224, with Yi T20 at 226 and Haigwood T43 at 236.
Georgia and Augusta were the only women’s teams from the state to earn NCAA Division 1 bids. Georgia is the No. 2 seed in the Texas A&M Regional, while Augusta is seeded 11th in the LSU Regional. Newnan’s Ji Eun Baik, who plays at Mississippi State, will compete in Regionals as an individual. Riverdale’s Mariah Stackhouse and defending NCAA Champion Stanford will host a Regional, with Stanford the No. 3 seed.
All four regionals will be played May 5-7.
Georgia’s other Division I women’s teams ended their seasons in conference tournaments.
Georgia Southern placed fourth and Georgia State was seventh in the 9-team Sun Belt tournament at the Sandestin Resort in Destin, Fla. Kennesaw State took third in the Atlantic Sun tournament at Reunion Resort in Kissimmee, Fla., and Mercer was fourth in the Southern Conference Championship at Savannah Quarters.
Mercer was led by the freshman Mary Juniga, who tied for 10th at 225. Fellow freshman Payton Schanen was 12th at 227 with sophomore Hannah Mae Deems of Taylorsville T15 at 232 and Moultrie junior Marin Hanna T17 at 233.
After no Mercer golfer broke 80 the first day, the team improved 38 shots in the second round, shooting 1-under 287. Janiga shot 70, sophomore Jaelyn Tindal shot 72 and both Schanen and Hanna posted scores of 73.