GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Fitting for Shorter University’s women’s golf team that its best regular season in history be capped by its highest-ever finish in the NAIA Women’s Golf National Championship.
The Lady Hawks fired the second-lowest team round of the tournament — a 12-over 304 — to finish third at the national tournament held at the Link Hills Golf and Country Club in Greeneville, Tenn.
The third place finish is the program’s best-ever at the national championships. Shorter’s previous best finish was seventh place and came under the direction of current head women’s basketball coach Vic Mitchell in 2005.
Shorter, the nation’s No. 1 ranked team entering this year’s championships, completed the four-round event at 1254, just two strokes back of second-ranked California Baptist University and fifth-ranked Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Fla.), which finished tied at the top of the leaderboard with identical championship totals of 1252.
No. 4 Oklahoma City University (1255) placed fourth and 10th-ranked Lubbock Christian University (1265) finished fifth in one of the most competitive national tournaments in recent history.
The Lady Hawks were a big reason for the late drama, posting their best round of the tournament behind a complete team effort. Shorter’s top four players all shot in the 70s, led by All-America sophomore Greta Lange, whose 1-over 74 left her at 304 for the championship and with a sixth place individual finish.
Lange, the 2011 Southern States Athletic Conference Player of the Year, had four of Shorter’s eight birdies in Friday’s final round and after a birdie on the par-5 10th, stood at 3-under for the day.
Lange wasn’t alone.
Freshman Maria Bengtsson, who battled an illness early in the week, produced her best round of the championship, firing a 75 with the help of consecutive birdies at No. 12 and No. 13 that came on the heels of consecutive bogies at No. 10 and No. 11.
Bengtsson improved with every round in Greeneville, finished with a four-round total of 316 and finished the tournament in a tie for 20th in the 129-player event.
Freshman Lisa Persson capped a successful week with a 78 on Friday. The SSAC Freshman of the Year bounced back well from a third round 81 to post an impressive 12th place finish at 312 in her first national tournament appearance.
Junior Petra Muller also contributed mightily to Friday’s efforts. She turned in a 77 with beautifully consistent play that included 13 pars on the 6,051-yard course.
Muller completed her four-rounds with a 322 to finish in a tie for 38th.
Freshman Gabriela Murcia rounded out Shorter’s participants with an 80 on Friday that left her with a 339 for the tournament.
Shorter’s performance at the national tournament did not produce the school’s first-ever national championship, but was a perfect ending to what will surely be considered the best season in program history.
The Lady Hawks finished runner-up or better at 11 of the 12 tournaments they played in during the 2010-11 campaign — the third place finish at nationals marked the first time all season Shorter did not post a top-two — and picked up five tournament victories along the way, including the 2011 SSAC Tournament championship that saw Persson win medalist honors and Lange and Bengtsson finish tied for second.
Head coach Greg Owens won SSAC Women’s Golf Coach of the Year honors in the process and guided Shorter to the school’s first-ever No. 1 national ranking in any sport.
Shorter’s roster was senior free and the Lady Hawks are surely going to be favorites to challenge for a national title entering the 2011-12 season.