March 27, 2010

UC Spring Invitational Final Results

CRYSTAL RIVER, Fla. - The Illinois women's golf team won their first team tournament title since the 2008 Illini Spring Classic as they took the crown at the University of Cincinnati Spring Invitational in Crystal River, Fla., on Saturday. The Illini tallied a final round 301 for a 54-hole total of 893, 29-over par, on the par 72 6,032-yard Plantation Inn golf course. Illinois' 893 is the second lowest 54-hole tournament in program history.

Illinois finished 12 strokes ahead of runner-up Stetson. Rounding out the top five were Montana, Florida Gulf Coast, and Florida Atlantic. Illinois led the tournament in birdies and pars with 25 birdies and 174 pars.

"Winning is always a great feeling of accomplishment," head coach Renee Slone said. "We really felt that this was an opportunity for us to post some good numbers, which we did, and pick up a win. It comes down to executing and getting the job done. We were able to post back-to-back sub-300 rounds and today was a little bit more windy so that made conditions more challenging. A sub-900 tournament was one of our goals for this season, so we will need to reevaluate our goals come Monday, since we have been able to accomplish quite a few of them already midway through the season. We're ready to take it to the next step now."

Sophomore Hailey Koschmann scored a final round 75 to finish with a 54-hole total of 218, two-over par, and placed second individually, only two strokes off of medalist Alex Buelow of Steston. Koschmann's 218 is her second best career 54-hole tournament total and she has placed first or second in two of the last three tournaments.

"We feel great," Koschmann said on the team's victory. "We've been working really hard and the work finally paid off. We all played really solid this week, so it was great to finally pull it through together and win one. We were all really excited, but we thought that going into the tournament we felt that could play well. We were just excited that we all finally played our best."

Finishing on the heels of Koschmann were sophomores Samantha Sloan and Kaitlyn Wampler, who tied for third place with 54-hole totals of 223, seven-over par. Sloan shot a final round 75, while Wampler scored a third round 76. Sloan's third place finish is her highest as an Illini. The 223 was both Sloan and Wampler's second best career 54-hole tournament total.

"It feels really good." Sloan said about her highest finish as an Illini. "I worked really hard and the fact that I finally had consistent scores too, that's something I've kind of struggled with is that my scores have been so up and down, but I really had a consistent week from Pinehurst and it just carried over to here."

"All three of them played consistently," Slone said about her top three finishers. "They provided three solid scores each of the rounds. It's always a good confidence booster to put up those numbers and to come away with a top three finish in a tournament."

Just out of the top ten was sophomore Nora Lucas, who finished tied for 13th place after a final round 75 to end the tournament with a 54-hole total of 230, fourteen-over par. Lucas's 230 ties her career best 54-hole tournament total, which she also tallied at the Pinehurst Challenge earlier in the week.

Rounding out the Illini was junior Raquel Hopton, who scored a final round 78 for a 54-hole total of 235. Hopton finished 19-over par and in a tie for 33rd place.

"They've proven to themselves that they can go out and post three solid numbers back-to-back-to-back and win in a large field," Slone said. "They will be able to draw on this success and this experience of going into the final round with the lead. Just being able to handle that situation and handle it well, and actually build on that lead, is always a good thing. They'll certainly be able to draw on this and feel satisfied that they were able to get the job done and accomplish several of their goals for the spring season in this particular tournament."

The Illini will have a two week break before they return to tournament play when they travel to Bloomington, Ind., for the Indiana Invitational on April 10-11.