VALDOSTA, Ga. - The Lee University golf team improved by seven strokes (299) over Tuesday's round (306) and finished the 54-hole event with a 904, but that was not enough to catch the University of West Florida's 891 in the battle for top team honors in the 2024 Gulf South Conference Women's Golf Championship that was staged at the Kinderlou Forest Golf Course.
The Lady Flames and West Florida advance to the NCAA South Regional Tournament which will be played at the Cleveland Country Club on May 6-8. Lee will serve as the host team for the event.
Supuschaya "Yui" Srichantamit had three birdies in her 2-under par 70 round and finished with a three-day total of 215 to earn the medalist honors. Yui fired a 69 on the opening day, slipped to a 76 on Tuesday and came firing back with the 70 to defeat West Florida's Alia Scotka who also had a 70 in the final round and a 54-hole total of 219. It was the second time for Srichantamit to earn medalist honors. She won the tournament in 2021.
Banthita "Pearl" Phoncharatkun posted a 2-over 74 on Wednesday to go along with her opening rounds of 74-76 and a total of 224. Her final number was good enough for fourth place and be on the GSC All-Tournament team. Emily Ritchie followed with a 77 after rounds of 82-75 (234) and tied for 11th. Hannah Nall (78-79-80 -237) and Olivia Ireland (78-81-78 – 237) tied for 17th in the final individual standings. It was Ireland's 78 that counted in Wednesday's play.
Montevallo (927), Shorter (941) and Mississippi College (950) round out the top five teams in the nine-team field.
Coach Almeida's Thoughts:
"This week is kind of a disappointing week for us. We thought we were ready but truthfully we did not play our best. We have to give credit to West Florida. They played very consistently all week and out played us."
"Yui was absolutely amazing. I am so proud of her. We talked about no matter what happens with the team she should keep on going and she did just that. She kept pushing and totally deserves the win this week."
Supuschaya Srichantamit's Thoughts:
"I really tried my best every shot. I fought every shot and didn't want to give up. Anytime I had a bogey, I thought it was ok because I have another hole in front of me."
