University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
Bradley Invitational
Barnes Second, Upstate Third at Bradley Invitational
4/7/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Peoria, Ill. – Spartanburg native Taylor Barnes shot a final round 73 to finish second and led the USC Upstate women's golf team to a third-place finish at the Bradley Invitational Sunday afternoon.
Barnes, who was playing in the next-to-last tournament of her college career, was simply solid in her final two rounds of the Bradley Invitational. After opening with an 82 in Saturday's first round, she closed with rounds of 75 on Saturday and 73 Sunday to climb the leaderboard into second place.
"Taylor was aggressive and hit 17 greens today," said Upstate head coach Todd Lawton. "There was never a doubt that she was going to play well. Her putting kept her from really going low, but her individual finish was well deserved."
Barnes' effort and that of fellow Spartanburg native Brittany Lowe helped keep Upstate in the Top 3 on the leaderboard. Lowe carded a 78 as the second-best Spartan on the day. Upstate shot a 318 in the final round and claimed third with a 960 total.
Bradley, the host of the tournament, shot a 308 in the final round to claim the team championship with a 949 total. Western Illinois was second at 954 and was followed by Upstate (960), Indiana State (971), Northern Iowa (971) and Illinois-Chicago (1033).
"I was proud that Brittany came back and helped us today," said Lawton. "She is very capable and this was a real confidence booster. Overall, I think we had a good tournament. We need to be great next week (at the A-Sun Championships) and realize some of our strengths and play to them more often. Course management is the key."
Amanda Hall (Tega Cay, S.C.) claimed a Top 10 finish, finishing tied for seventh after posting a 238 total. She shot an 84 Sunday after turning in rounds of 80 and 74 Saturday. Rachel Reiling (Littleton, Colo.) shot an 84 on Sunday as well, finishing tied for 14th with a 245 total. Lowe and Malika Allie (Cape Town, South Africa) finished tied for 22nd. Allie turned in an 83 for the third countable score for the Spartans on Sunday. Lowe and Allie finished with 253 totals.
Bradley's Danielle Lemek, who held the lead after Saturday's 36 holes, won the individual championship with a 223 total after posting a 75 Sunday.
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