University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
FGCU Invitational
Howard Finishes as Top Spartan at FGCU Invitational
2/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Estero, Fla. – Eden Howard shot a final round 80 Sunday and finished the FGCU Invitational at Stoneybrook Country Club as the top Spartan with a Top 20 individual finish to lead the USC Upstate women's golf team in her first collegiate tournament.
Howard shot rounds of 79, 76 and 80 to claim a tie for 20th with a 235 total. She was steady throughout the round Sunday, finishing with 11 pars. She played each nine at 4-over. Her 80 helped Upstate shoot 327 in the final round and finish 11th. Upstate finished each day of the tournament in 11th place despite battling several teams and jockeying for position as many as four positions higher throughout the tournament.
"Eden played a great tournament and worked hard throughout her round despite her putting being a little off today," said Upstate head coach Todd Lawton. "I was proud of her effort in her first collegiate tournament."
Elon led wire-to-wire to win the team championship. The Phoenix turned in rounds of 290, 308 and 303 for a 901 total. Daytona State and Toledo tied for second at 918 and were followed on the leaderboard by Xavier (925), FGCU (936), Ohio (947), Arkansas State (947), Akron (948), Southern Illinois (959), Utah Valley (968), Upstate (973), Northern Kentucky (1000), Drake (1001) and Florida Atlantic (1050).
Rachel Reiling shot a 78 on Sunday as the top Spartan on the day, playing her final six holes 2-under. She finished with two birdies and 11 pars in a consistent round. The round followed a 79 in the second round and she claimed a tie for 52nd along with teammate Payton Culler.
"Rachel had a great finish today to lead us," said Lawton. "She rebounded well from her opening round."
Culler turned in the best round for the Spartans in the first round on Friday and shot an 83 with two birdies on Sunday. Reiling and Culler finished with 247 totals. Sidney Dermody shot the best round of all of the Spartans in the tournament when she carded a 75 in the second round on Saturday. She finished as the second best Upstate golfer in a tie for 46th with a 244 total. Allie Gennaula finished the tournament with a 90 on Sunday following her best round of the tournament on Saturday.
Upstate finished with four birdies on Sunday and 11 for the tournament.
Toledo's Sathika Ruenreong and Daytona State's Tiffany Chan claimed a share of the individual championship with a 221 total.
