KISSIMMEE, F.L.– The Kennesaw State women’s golf team put on a dominate performance to claim the 2015 Atlantic Sun Conference Championship and the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Regional on Tuesday (April 14, 2015) at the par-72, 6,146-yard Reunion Resort Watson Course as the Owls became the just third team in A-Sun women’s golf history to win the conference championship by at least 30 strokes.
KSU finished the Championship with the second-lowest 54-hole team score with an eight-over par 872 after wrapping the tournament with a five-over 293 in its final round to best second-place North Florida by 30 strokes, the third largest margin of victory in championship history and the largest since 1992. It is the second A-Sun Championship in program history, with the Owls winning their first conference championship in 2012.
“We are obviously really excited right now,” said head coach Rhyll Brinsmead. “I knew we were going to play well, but I did not know that we were going to win by 30 strokes. The team just came out today, and not even today, all week and played phenomena. It is not like a golf course is that was an easy set-up or anything, we just stuck to the game plan and pulled it off. Everything we did this week, we did well. I am so proud.”
Individually, the Owls claimed the top-three spots on the leaderboard as sophomore Dulcie Sverdloff became the second Owl to earn A-Sun Championship medalist honors joining senior Ines Lescudier, who earned the honor in 2013 and finished as runner-up in her final A-Sun Championship, while sophomore Laura Estefenn registered her second-straight third place finish at the conference championship. It is the first time three teammates finished 1-2-3 since 2000 and just the fourth time in conference history.
Sverdloff led wire-to-wire as she carded a one-over par 73 in her final round and finished the tournament at one-under par with a season-low 215 total, just three strokes off of a career low. It also tied for the eighth-lowest score in A-Sun Championship history.
Lescudier finished one stroke behind Sverdloff with an even-par total of 216 following a final round even-par 72 with her runner-up finish marking her third-career top-five A-Sun finish.
Starting out the day in a tie for sixth, Estefenn jumped three spots with a career low-tying two-under par 70 that included birdies on three of her first four holes, before playing the rest of her round at one-under par. Estefenn ended the tournament with a career-low two-over par score of 218.
Senior Kaew Preamchuen turned in an eight-over par 80 in her final round and finished her final A-Sun Championship in a tie for ninth place with a 10-over par 226, while freshman Henriette Nielsen concluded her first conference championship in a tie for 14th with a 12-over par score of 228 after posting a six-over par 78 in her final round.
North Florida finished in second place with a 38-over par total of 902 after carding a four-over par 292 in its final round, while Florida Gulf Coast rounded out the top-three with a 46-over par score of 910 and registered a 21-over par total of 309 to close out the tournament on Tuesday.
With the A-Sun Championship, the Owls earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Regional on May 7-9, 2015. The NCAA Selection Show for regional play will air on April 27, 2015 on the Golf Channel.