University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
Great Smokies Intercollegiate
Lewis Finishes 15th at Great Smokies Intercollegiate
9/20/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Waynesville, N.C. – Rachel Lewis turned in a 1-under-par 71 in the final round of the Great Smokies Intercollegiate at the Waynesville Inn and Golf Club Tuesday afternoon and finished 15th individually to lead the USC Upstate women's golf team. The Spartans finished 14th out of 23 teams in the event.
Lewis (Llanishen, Wales) was simply strong throughout the day and posted a 71 to lead the Upstate cause. She finished the tournament with a 146 total (+2) to finish 15th out of 125 golfers. It marked the third top 15 finish of her young career at Upstate. It also was the eighth time the sophomore has finished as the low Spartan in a tournament. She ranked tied for fourth in par-3 scoring at 1-under-par.
"Rachel was great today," said Upstate head coach Todd Lawton. "She's a wonderful competitor and remains focused no matter the outcome. This is a great field to finish near the top individually."
Upstate turned in a 307 team total on Tuesday, counting scores of 71, 77, 79 and 80. The Spartans finished with a 604 total for the tournament following Monday's school record round of 297. Upstate finished one shot behind Radford and just nine strokes out of a top 10 position.
Eastern Kentucky took home the team championship after posting 284 on Tuesday and finishing with a 576 total. Western Carolina, the host of the tournament, was second at 580 and was followed by UNC Greensboro (583), Gardner-Webb (583), Rollins (586), Louisiana-Monroe (587), Presbyterian College (591), Jacksonville (593), South Carolina State (595), South Alabama (597), Newberry (600), UAB (602), Radford (6-3), Upstate (604), Northwood (Fla.) (605), Appalachian State (608), Belmont (609), Bowling Green State (612), Western Kentucky (613), Tennessee Tech (617), Methodist (619), Savannah College of Art & Design (628) and The Citadel (630).
Upstate started the day in eighth place and was solid through the first nine holes. But, the team struggled on the greens on the final nine holes and came home with a 307 to fall six positions on the leaderboard. Upstate did rank tied for fourth in the tournament in par-3 scoring.
"We had a very good tournament, overall," said Lawton. "I know we could have enjoyed a better finish if just a few putts would've fallen on our last nine holes. As a team, it was a battle. The best news is we've gained confidence and the players saw how good they could be. That is a great thing."
Taylor Pleier (Spartanburg, S.C.) finished with a 77 and claimed a tie for 46th as the second-best Spartan in the tournament. She finished with a 151 total. Amanda Hall (Tega Cay, S.C.) finished at 153 and in a tie for 63rd. Brittany Lowe (Spartanburg, S.C.) carded an 80 on Tuesday for a 155 total. Kristi Goodman (Easley, S.C.) shaved 14 strokes off her round from Monday and turned in an 80 on Tuesday.
Western Carolina's Sofie Kvarnstrom won the individual title with a 135 total, finishing with rounds of 69 on Monday and a strong 66 on Tuesday.
Upstate will next compete at the Winthrop Invitational Oct. 8-9 at the Rock Hill Country Club.
"After back-to-back tournaments, it is good to be able to have a break and get back to work on driving the ball, our short game and trusting good swings," said Lawton.
