The University of Memphis women’s golf team placed first in the FIU Pat Bradley Invitational on Tuesday for their first tournament win this fall.
The Lady Tigers tied a school record for low team round for the third time this season, scoring 288 in the third round.
Memphis coach Beth Harrelson was very proud of the way her team pushed through to win the tournament.
“I’m really proud of our team,” she said in a press release. “This is a reward for how hard they worked all fall.”
Senior Ashley Kees led the Tigers through the tournament in record book fashion. Not only did she tie former Tiger Valerie Luehrs for the school record 6-under-par 66 in the third round, but she also tied for the second-lowest score through 54 holes in school history, shooting a 212 for the tournament. She finished third overall finishing the tournament at 4-under par.
“Ashley just kept trying to make birdies out there,” Harrelson said. “She wasn't trying to protect her score. She just kept pushing forward, when she was three under, she tried to go four, she just stayed in the moment really well today.”
For Kees, the third round was just a day where nothing could go wrong for her out on the course.
“Today everything just seemed to go my way,” she said in a press release. "It was one of those days when all the putts fell and everything went good today. Not much went wrong.”
Three other Tigers finished in the top 10 of the tournament with Emily Goldenstein tying for seventh, Michaela Fletcher finishing ninth and Leighann Cabush coming in tenth.
For Goldenstein, a freshman, this was the second time in her young career to finish in the top ten. She ended the tournament at 4 over par.
Fletcher, also a freshman, finished in the top ten for the fourth time in four tournaments this Fall. She finished with 5 over par for the tournament.
Cabush, a sophomore, also finished the tournament at 5 over par with a score of 221.
The Lady Tigers completed their fall tournament schedule with two second place performances and one first place finish in five tournaments. The Tigers won’t hit the course again until the Spring 2015 schedule tees off at the South Alabama Women’s Invitational, Feb. 23-24 in Mobile.
Kees expressed that she doesn’t want to take a break after her team has gained so much momentum throughout the fall.
“It is kind of sad to see the fall end,” she said in a press release. “We played really well the last two tournaments and coming off of winning this tournament, we are really feeling confident now.”
