Women’s Golf Finishes Second at Michigan State Tournament

Tuesday, February 21

Port St. Lucie, Fla./St. Lucie Trail GC

All Day

University of Memphis

2017 Central District

Women’s Golf Finishes Second at Michigan State Tournament

Feb 21, 2017 | Women's Golf

2017 Central District Final

Fletcher cards a third round 68 to finish as tournament runner-up.

By: Tammy DeGroff

MEMPHIS – The University of Memphis women's golf team had four golfers finish in the top 25 and grabbed runner up honors to number seven ranked Furman at the 2017 Central District hosted by Michigan State, Tuesday.

Sophomore Michaela Fletcher carded the low round of the day (68) to finish just one stroke from the tournament win. Furman's Alice Chen held on for the individual medalist honor at 215. Fletcher's 68 pushed her to second place, one stroke atop second round leader Taylor Totland, also from Furman.

"I just played really solid, which was good," Fletcher said. "The course was pretty tough. You had to pick really good spots on fairways and think two steps ahead. It was tough. It was one of those courses you sometimes take your par and run."

Fletcher started the day tied for 16^th and with her team solidly in fifth place in the team standings. Starting from the fifth hole, Fletcher birdied three of five holes on the back side of the golf course (13, 14 and 17) and threw in a fourth birdie on three to card the day's low round (68). On the par 3s over the course of the tournament, Fletcher led the field with a 2.75 stroke average (-3) and she finished third in the event with 39 total pars over the three rounds of golf.

"I didn't have any bogeys and played really solid golf," Fletcher said. "I've been playing really solid golf leading up to tourney, and I just have stay patient with it, it's going to come."

As a team, Memphis led the tournament with 171 pars and ranked second only to Furman on the par five holes, averaging a 5.02 (+1) average. That allowed Memphis to jump from fifth to second in the team standings with a third round 287, the team's lowest round of the year and just two strokes off the school record.

"It's such a big confidence booster," Fletcher said. "We knew we are good and belong with the best, but with this effort, especially to start the spring, it's a major confidence booster and it shows we really do belong."

With the second place finish, the Tigers finished ahead of three top 50 ranked programs, including Louisville (49), North Carolina (32) and Augusta University (44). Memphis came in to the tournament ranked 100 in the latest GolfStat.com rankings and finished ahead of a total of eight teams that ranked ahead of them at the beginning of the event in their first tournament of the spring.

Sophomore Madison Thomas matched her second round 75 to finish at 222, good for a tie for 12^th overall. Teammates Leighann Cabush and Emily Goldenstein tied at 226 (+10), while freshman Abby Herrmann shaved seven strokes off her second round score and carded a third round 73 to finish tied for 40^th with a 234.

Memphis will return to Florida in early March to participate in the University of North Florida Collegiate, Mar. 6-7.

Final Standings

Pos	School	Rnd 1	Rnd 2	Rnd 3	Total	To Par
1.	#7 Furman	282	289	293	864	E
2.	Memphis	301	299	287	887	+23
3.	Louisville	287	298	305	890	+26
4.	North Carolina	298	301	297	896	+32
5.	Maryland	293	308	299	900	+36
T6.	Augusta University	297	299	313	909	+45
T6.	Michigan State	304	300	305	909	+45
8.	Toledo	307	304	299	910	+46
9.	UNC Wilmington	297	326	304	927	+63
10.	Ole Miss	308	312	312	932	+68
11.	Nebraska	316	314	307	937	+72
T12.	Iowa	305	327	311	943	+79
T12.	College of Charleston	312	317	314	943	+79
14.	Rutgers	316	321	310	947	+83

Memphis Scores

2.	Michaela Fletcher	74	74	68	216	E
T12.	Madison Thomas	72	75	75	222	+6
T24.	Leighann Cabush	74	78	74	226	+10
T24.	Emily Goldenstein	82	72	72	226	+10
T40.	Abby Herrmann	81	80	73	234	+18