Oct. 28, 2013

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Kiawah Island, S.C. - The Illinois women's golf team finished their fall season on Monday when they tied for fifth at the Palmetto Intercollegiate held at Turtle Point Golf Course on Kiawah Island, South Carolina. Illinois entered the final round in fifth place and couldn't seem to break through in the 19 team tournament.

"It was not the way we wanted to end the fall season," said Illinois head coach Renee Slone. "We felt this golf course set up well for us and we were fully capable of putting together some really strong rounds and we just didn't do that as a team." 

The Illini finished their second round of play early this morning after play was suspended last night due to darkness. The golfers did not adjust well as all the women ended up shooting over par for the holes they had to finish for the second round. 

"We went back out today to finish the second round and we did not finish well at all, that was not the way we wanted to end that round," said Slone. 

The course provided challenges for all the golfers at the tournament, where the average over the three rounds was a 78.03 (+6) and only one player out of 99 finished the tournament under par. Illinois senior Ember Schuldt finished with the best score for the Illini over the two days, finishing +8 and tying for 16th overall individually. Freshman Stephanie Miller and redshirt junior Sam Postillion were both +10 while freshman Emily Joers was +11. 

"We left so many shots out there this tournament," continued Slone. "Our short putting was not very good as a team, and we definitely struggled in that area this tournament, an area that had been strong for us all season."

Illinois ended its fall campaign today, where the Illini saw a great amount of success and positive play to build on for the spring. Until the fifth place finish this weekend, the Illini hadn't placed lower than third in any of their previous four tournaments. They cracked the top-25 after winning the Diane Thomason Invitational and had Stephanie Miller become the first Illinois freshman since 1992 to win a tournament.