DADE CITY, Fla. – The Georgia Southern women’s golf team overcame an 11-stroke deficit and shot 296 in the final round to win the Spring Break Shootout Tuesday at Lake Jovita Golf Club.
It is the first team title in program history after the Eagles’ score was the lowest of the day by eight strokes. Georgia Southern (+33) topped Southern Miss. (+35) and Boston College by two shots.
Two Eagles finished in the top-10, and four were in the top-25. Yeji Shin (+5) shot 73 today to finish fourth, and Ansley Bowman (+8) carded a 1-under-par 71 to place eighth.
It was Shin’s second top-5 of the season and the third top-10 of the sophomore’s career, and she finished five shots behind medalist Nichada Satasuk of Southern Miss.
Iben Hvass (+13) carded a 77 today and tied for 21st with Lauren Coe, who shot 81 today. Ariana Macioce posted a 75 today, and individual Taylor Thompson carded an 82.
Georgia Southern ranked in the top-3 in par-3, par-4 and par-5 scoring this week, and the Eagles’ 165 pars were the second-highest total. GS also ranked fourth with 29 birdies on the week.
The story
Bowman tallied four birdies on the day, posting them all in her first 10 holes. The sophomore was 2-under through 16 holes and finished her round with a par for the first top-10 finish of her career.
Shin led the team with five birdies and shot a 34 on the back nine after making four birdies. She started her day by playing her first five holes 1-under with a birdie on the par-4 fifth. Shin tied for the tournament lead in birdies with 10 and par-4 scoring (+2).
Macioce played her final 12 holes of the tournament even with a birdie on the par-3 12th hole, and Hvass shot even par on the back nine.
Quotable from coach Emily Kuhfeld
“Today was such a special day for our program. We set out to be as emotionally resilient as we could, and it paid off today in the wind and final group pairing.”
“I am proud of all the girls for contributing to this first-ever program win! It was a true team effort. Yeji bounced back after a few tough weeks, Iben hung in there tough each day, Ari rebounded from a tough first day, Ansley is growing more into a true competitor each time she tees it up, and Lauren is so close to playing some fantastic golf. I think the girls are starting to see what is possible, and we are looking forward to getting out to Kennesaw!”
Next up
The Eagles have one more tune-up before the Sun Belt Conference Championship. GS stays in state at the Hennsler Intercollegiate, hosted by Kennesaw State in Atlanta, March 27-28.