Upstate Shoots Second Straight Record Round, Finishes 9th
9/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Sept. 16, 2008
Complete Final Results in PDF Format 
Waynesville, N.C. - For the second straight day, the USC Upstate women's golf team shot a school record round, finishing the 36-hole Great Smokies Collegiate with a 299 Tuesday to finish in a tie for ninth-place at the 22-team tournament.
Upstate opened the tournament with a 301 Monday, breaking the school record of 307 shot on two occasions, once during the 2006-07 season and once last year. The 299 is the first time the Spartans have finished below 300 and just the fourth time under 310. It also came at a much needed time as several schools went low in the rainy, cold conditions at the 5,922-yard, par-72 Waynesville Country Club Tuesday. The round enabled Upstate to maintain its position to finish the tournament in a tie for ninth with Akron with a 36-hole total of 600. To put the tournament in perspective, the Spartans averaged a team score of 323.9 per round last year. Upstate has started off the 2008-09 season averaging 300.0 per round, improving on last year's average by better than 23 strokes.
Western Carolina turned in another solid round, finishing with a 294 Tuesday and a 36-hole total of 578. Wofford finished second with a 583 total and was followed in the top-10 by Tennessee Tech (586), Samford (588), Winthrop (589), Elon (597), Morehead State (597), Jacksonville (598), Upstate and Akron. Positions six through 15 were decided by a span of just 11 strokes. The Spartans finished ahead of A-Sun foes Belmont (15th, 608) and Mercer (19th, 623).
"I'm extremely proud of what we did in this tournament," said Upstate head coach Todd Lawton. "It was a very good day and a very good way to start the year. Finishing ninth may not look very good, but with the caliber of competition and the scores we shot, it truly was a very good tournament for us. They went out and did it yesterday, put it in their pocket, and came out today and did it again. The players just seemed to feed off each other in both rounds."
For the second straight day, Upstate's four counted scores all fell in the 70s as Audrey Church turned in an even-par 72 to pace the Spartans on the day. She played her final five holes at 3-under, aided by an eagle and birdie on her final two par-5s. She finished with a 5-over, 149 tournament total to finish in a tie for 26th out of 115 players as the low Spartan in the tournament.
"Audrey started out bogeying two of her first three holes then came back to birdie her fourth hole," said Lawton. "She came up to me after the birdie and just smiled and said, `I've got this.' She did it and turned in a really impressive round."
In addition to Church, Julie Miller also turned in a strong round in challenging conditions. She finished with a 73, cutting six strokes off of her first round score Monday, to finish with a 152 total and in a tie for 47th. She finished her final nine holes at 2-under. Richia Wedzik turned in a 75 to finish with a 151 total and in a tie for 40th. Richelle Wedzik carded a 79 Tuesday for a 36-hole total of 154 and finished in a tie for 63rd. Jessica Wofford, who led the Spartans Monday, finished with an 84 Tuesday and in a tie for 84th with a 157 total.
Belmont's Lorie Wilson shot a second straight 69 Tuesday to finish as the tournament medalist with a 6-under 138 total. She won by a stroke over Wofford's Sarah Hurt.
