ORLANDO, Fla. – The Penn State women's golf team concluded play at the UCF Challenge on Monday afternoon firing their best round of the week with a 2-under, 286, to finish 16th at 19-over, 883, for the tournament.
The Nittany Lions improved each round after getting off to a sluggish start with a 14-over, 302, in the opening round on Saturday they shaved seven strokes during Sunday's second round (7-over, 295) before Monday's final round score of 2-under, 288.
Penn State's 19-over score along with the 2-under final round are both season bests as the final round 286 marks the first under par round for the Nittany Lions as a team this season.
"I thought the team stayed really patient and just kept fighting," commented head coach Kristen Simpson. "I loved our improvement each round and how we kept getting better and better. We definitely grew and got better as a team this week!"
North Carolina went wire-to-wire taking the championship with an 18-under, 846, five shots clear of Kansas in second (13-under) with Miami (11-under) finishing third. College of Charleston, UCF and Northwestern each tied for fourth at 8-under for the week.
Graduate student Carlota Garcia (Salamanca, Spain) moved up 11 spots with the low round of the day for Penn State carding a 2-under, 70, to finish the week 5-over, 221, her lowest 54-hole total as a Nittany Lion. Her final round 2-under marks her first sub-par round of the season.
"I felt really comfortable with my game today and my ball striking was consistent allowing me to hit more greens," commented Garcia. "My short game and putting was also really good which allowed me to score well."
Garcia opened her final round on the par-5 16th and began her day with back-to-back birdies going 13 holes before surrendering a stroke while rolling in a team-high four birdies on the day and 11 for the week.
Junior Michelle Cox (Allentown, Pa.) paced the Nittany Lions finishing the week tied for 40th with a 2-over, 218. Cox's best round came on Sunday when she used four birdies with just two bogeys to register a 2-under, 70, her team leading sixth sub-par round of the year.
Junior Drew Nienhaus (St. Louis, Mo.) rattled off a 1-under, 71, on Monday highlighted by a bogey-free, 3-under, back-nine as she finished the week tied with Garcia for 55th at 5-over, 221.
Senior classmates Victoria Tip-Aucha (Vienna, Va.) and Mathilde Delavallade (Royan, France) also carded their best rounds of the week to round out the tournament with scores of even-par, 72, and 1-over, 73, respectively.
"Overall, this week was great building block for us leading into the Columbia Classic next week," concluded Simpson.
Full UCF Challenge Results
Penn State will tee it up again in less than a week as they make a return trip to the Sunshine State for the Columbia Classic in Melbourne, Florida. The three round event will begin on Saturday morning and run through Monday, February 12.
