Browns Summit, N.C. —Led by a pair of top-10 individual finishes by Jillian Hollis and Bailey Tardy, the No. 9-ranked Georgia women’s golf team secured a runner-up finish at the Bryan National Collegiate on Sunday.
The Bulldogs shot their second-straight 1-under 287 and completed the 54-hole event at 1-over 875. Individually, Hollis tied for third at 6-under 210, and Tardy finished eighth at 4-under 212.
No. 3 Alabama shot 10-under on Sunday to finish at 13-under 851 and claim the team title.
“We played well today,” head coach Josh Brewer said. “That what you want to do when you’re in contention, post a good score and see where it falls at the end of the day. Hats off to Alabama, though. They sort of blitzed the field today.”
Georgia’s counting rounds on Sunday included a pair of 1-under 71s from Hollis and Tardy, an even-par 72 from Harang Lee and a 1-over 73 from Mary Ellen Shuman. Gabriela Coello shot 77, the Bulldogs’ drop score.
Hollis finished two shots back of medalist Kristen Gillman of Alabama, while Tardy was four strokes off the pace. In addition, Lee tied for 21st at 220, Shuman tied for 28th at 223 and Coello tied for 71st at 235.
All told, nine of the Bulldogs’ 12 individual counting scores this weekend were par-or-better efforts.
Rounding out the top-10 teams after the Crimson Tide and the Bulldogs were No. 20 Baylor at 867, North Carolina and N.C. State both at 872, No. 11 South Carolina at 881, No. 15 Miami at 883, Michigan at 885, No. 12 Wake Forest at 886 and Virginia at 897.
“We’ve played well and put up some good scores at home this spring, but it was nice to see us do the same thing under tournament conditions this weekend,” Brewer said. “The postseason is almost here so trending in the right direction is what you want. We’re hoping we can build on that momentum next weekend.”
The Bulldogs will return to action next weekend when they host the 45th annual Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic at the UGA Golf Course. The event features 12 teams in a mini-simulation of the NCAA Championships format. A one-day stroke play qualifying round on Friday will determine the seedings for match play on Saturday and Sunday.
“I’m biased, but I think it’s not only the most historic event, it’s the most exciting of the spring as well,” Brewer said. “It’s exactly what you could go through at nationals. You have the pressure of a one-round qualifier and then two days of match play. It will be good for us to have the pressure of the qualifier at home because we could very well be in that position during Regionals. We could feel that same sort of pressure on our home course at Regionals.”