Judge Leads Spartans As A-Sun Championships Set To Begin
4/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Spartanburg, S.C. - Junior golfer and Hurley, Miss., native Jennifer Judge will lead the USC Upstate women's golf team in the 2010 A-Sun Championships Monday-Wednesday at the Venetian Bay Golf Club in New Smyrna Beach, Fla. The Spartans will be one of 10 teams vying for the A-Sun Championship and Judge is expected to once again lead Upstate as she has the entire season.
The A-Sun Championships will begin when Upstate and Lipscomb tee off at 8:00 a.m. Monday morning. In addition to the Spartans and Lady Bisons, Belmont, Campbell, East Tennessee State, Florida Gulf Coast, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Mercer and Stetson will battle for superiority in the conference. Stetson is the defending champion of the tournament and is the odds-on favorite to win this year's championship. Returning individual champion Danielle Jackson and runner-up Lauren Cate look to lead the Hatters once again. Campbell and ETSU are expected to join Stetson in the fray for the team championship.
Upstate will send the lineup of Judge, Cheryl Lo, Johanna Ebenhag, Natalie Buchand Marissa Clontz into the tournament. Judge is the only Upstate player in this year's tournament to play in last year's championship. She has led the Spartans throughout the season, finishing as the low Spartan in each of the eight tournaments she has played. Lo and Ebenhag have shown the ability to post low scores, while Buch and Clontz have proven they can be consistent contributors. Upstate finished ninth in last year's championships held at Victoria Hills Golf Club in DeLand, Fla., led by Richelle Wedzik who finished in a tie for 18th individually. Judge turned in rounds of 81, 78 and 78 to finish as the second lowest Spartan in the tournament and in a tie for 32nd.
Looking Back At The WCU/Mimosa Hills
Intercollegiate
Jennifer Judge once again proved she is the class of the
Upstate program, turning in rounds of 77 and 75 to post a 152
36-hole total to finish in a tie for 12th at the WCU/Mimosa Hills
Intercollegiate to lead the Spartans in the tournament. She was the
only Upstate player to record rounds in the 70s. Upstate turned in
team rounds of 335 and 331 to finish 14th in the tournament, two
strokes ahead of The Citadel. Cheryl Lowas the second-lowest
Spartan in the tournament, tying for 48th individually with rounds
of 80 and 82, while Johanna Ebenhag carded rounds of 91
and 84 to finish with the third-best finish on the team. Elon won
the tournament with a 607 total.
Recapping The 2009 A-Sun Championships
Playing in its first A-Sun Championships, USC Upstate turned in
rounds of 322, 309 and 316 to finish ninth in the 10-team
tournament at the Victoria Hills Golf Club April
13-15. Richelle Wedzik finished as the low Spartan in the
event, posting scores of 77, 76 and 79 for a 232 total. She
finished tied for 18th individually in the final tournament of her
collegiate career. Jennifer Judge finished with the
second-best tournament score for Upstate, finishing tied for 32nd
with a 237 total. Stetson won the tournament with an 881 total, two
strokes ahead of Campbell at 883. ETSU was third at 904 and was
followed by Kennesaw State (923), Florida Gulf Coast (927),
Jacksonville (927), Belmont (929), Mercer (942), Upstate 947) and
Lipscomb (949). Stetson's Danielle Jackson won the individual title
with a 3-under-par total, two strokes ahead of teammate Lauren
Cate.
Judge Looking To Close Out Solid Season
When Jennifer Judge tees it up at the A-Sun
Championships Monday morning at the Venetian Bay Golf Club in New
Smyrna Beach, Fla., she will begin the final tournament in what has
been a solid season for the junior from Hurley, Miss. In her first
full year at Upstate, she has simply been the go-to player for the
Spartans. She has played in eight of Upstate's nine tournaments
this season, sitting out the first tournament of the spring at the
Edwin Watts/Kiawah Island Classic. She has finished as the low
Spartan in all eight tournaments she has played, finishing with a
team-best tie for 10th at the Boscobel Invitational in Anderson.
She has five of the Spartans' six lowest rounds of the year and
leads the team with a 79.0 stroke average. She has five top 15
individual finishes this year, including back-to-back top 15
finishes in the last two tournaments.
Lo, Ebenhag Look To Bolster Upstate
Sophomore Cheryl Lo and junior Johanna
Ebenhag will look to follow Judge's lead and help Upstate
battle on the leaderboard in the A-Sun Championships. Lo ranks
second on the Spartans with an 83.6 stroke average, while Ebenhag
is third at 86.4. Lo has the lowest single round this season, a 72
at the Holiday Inn Express/Hatter Classic at Victoria Hills Golf
Club in DeLand, Fla. Ebenhag has shown signs of gaining greater
consistency and finished as the second lowest Spartan in the
Winthrop University Intercollegiate.
Judge Moves Up The Record Books
Closing out a standout season for Upstate, Jennifer
Judge has put herself in position to be one of the top golfers
in the history of the program. She currently ranks second all-time
with an 80.13 stroke average, trailing only Richelle
Wedzik (79.44) on the list. She also trails Wedzik on the
all-time wining percentage list, claiming a .710 percentage
(681-278) in her time at Upstate. Her 79.0 stroke average this
season is the second-lowest in program history, behind Wedzik's
77.84 stroke average set during the 2006-07 season.
