FARMINGTOM, Pennsylvania - It took a while, but the Lee women's golf team worked around delays each morning and cooler than normal temperatures to battle back from a slow start in the opening rounds of the Nemacolin Intercollegiate, that was hosted by the University of Findlay and played at Mystic Rock Golf Course.
Coach Geandra Almeida had noted earlier that she selected this tournament because her team would be pitted against some of the top teams in DII. She was correct! The field included nine teams, seven of which were nationally ranked or receiving votes. Those teams included No.1 Dallas Baptist, host and No. 5 Findlay, No. 6 Henderson St., No. 8 Indianapolis, No. 11 Lee, No. 24 Missouri St. Louis, and RV North Georgia.
All the Lee players did not get to complete all 36 holes of play in Monday's opening round of the 54-hole event and returned to the links early on Tuesday to finish the first day of play and then move on to the final 18 holes.
Only one Lady Flame was able to break 80 in the opening round. Supuschaya "Yui" Srichantamit carded a 77 on the 6147 yards layout. Lee followed the first 18 (322) by improving 15 strokes and completing 36 holes with 307 and standing in fifth place heading into the final round. Led by an even-par 72 by Emily Ritchie the Lady Flames had three players shoot in the 70s.
Yui showed why she is one of the top DII players in the nation by firing a 3-under 69 in the final round on Tuesday and finishing the 54-hole event with a 224 total. In the individual competition, Yui moved all the way up to a seventh-place finish and helped the Lady Flames finish fifth overall with a team total of 322-309-298 - 927.
Mary Kelly Mulcahy of Findlay won the medalists honors with a 219 total. The University of Indianapolis won the team honors with a 54-hole total of 887. Henderson State was second (903), Findlay third (906), Dallas Baptist fourth (908) and the Lady Flames rounded out the top-five finishers.
Individual Scoring:
Supuschaya "Yui" Srichantamit 77–78-69 - 224
Hannah Nall 83-77–76 - 236
Emily Ritchie – 82-72-85 - 239
Banthita "Pearl" Phoncharatkun 80-80-74 - 234
Lily Bloodworth 88-83-79 - 251
The Pennsylvania event wrapped up the fall schedule for the Lady Flames.
Coach Geandra Almeida's thoughts:
"This event provided a great experience for our team. The first round was very disappointing as we struggled to adjust to the tougher conditions. We also had a poor attitude out there, and that cost us a lot of shots.
"I strategically chose this tournament to expose us to different conditions than what we are used to because I believe every time we take ourselves out of our comfort zone we have an opportunity to grow and get better. We certainly learned from our struggles in the first round, and we progressively got better from that point on. We also had some great individual performances with Emily Ritchie leading us in the second round by shooting 72, an even-par round, and Yui shot 69, a 3-under par in the final round which was enough to earn a top seven finish.
"Overall, I'm really proud of the way we played the entire fall season. I believe we are trending in the right direction. I can't wait to see what the future holds for this team. I'm excited to keep working and challenging our girls to be competitive and to keep dreaming big!"
