WOODBURY, Minn. — Georgia’s women’s golf team posted a 5-over 293 in Tuesday’s final round of the Minnesota Invitational at the Prestwick Golf Club. The No. 9-ranked Bulldogs finished 12th overall at 882.
Georgia jumped out to a hot start, moving to 6-under on the day at one point, before giving those shots back late.
“We got off to a great start,” head coach Josh Brewer said. “Maybe we got a little ahead of ourselves thinking about what we could shoot instead of taking it shot by shot. We were still learning the golf course. Even last night, we were talking about how to play certain holes. The whole team was asking good questions. This was a good experience and it will definitely help us going forward into the Annika and throughout the rest of the regular season and postseason.”
Freshman Elisa Yang led the Bulldogs for the third-straight round by firing a 1-under 71. Classmates Stephanie Carras and Paula Neira Garcia also contributed counting tallies, shooting even-par 72 and a 1-over 73, respectively. Isabella Skinner rounded out Georgia’s team tally with a 77.
Overall, Yang finished tied for 24th at even-par 216 in her first collegiate event. Neira Garcia tied for 36th at 219, Gabriela Coello tied for 61st at 226, Carras tied for 66th at 229 and Skinner tied for 70th at 229.
Yang teed off from No. 15 of the shotgun start and moved to 3-under with birdies at No. 16, No. 2 and No. 3. A trio of bogeys at No. 4, No. 6 and No. 7 drove her back to even before a final birdie at No. 11 pushed her back into red numbers.
Carras teed off from No. 17. Following a pair of pars, she played the front half of the course at 1-under, with birdies at No. 3, No. 4 and No. 9 paired with bogeys at No. 2 and No. 9. She bogeyed No. 10 and No. 14 to climb to 1-over before a birdie at No. 15 and a closing par at No. 16.
Georgia’s freshmen combined to record four par-or-better scores in their nine individual rounds.
“All three of our freshmen had good days,” Brewer said. “They’ve worked hard. It’s good to see them rewarded for practicing and playing golf the right way.”
Southern Cal won the event’s team title, while USC’s Muni He and Purdue’s Inez Wanamarta shared medalist honors.
Georgia will return to action in just under three weeks when they return to Minnesota for the Annika Intercollegiate. The tournament features many of the nation’s premier teams – including 10 of the top-30 of Golfweek’s preseason rankings – competing at the Olympic Hills Golf Club in Eden Prairie. The No. 9-ranked Bulldogs will be joined in the field by No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 Stanford, No. 7 Furman, No. 8 Arkansas, No. 10 USC, No. 11 Texas, No. 12 Florida State, No. 13 South Carolina, No. 27 Miami (Fla.), Baylor and Minnesota.