CLEVELAND, Tenn.- For the final regular season tournament, the Lee University women's golf team participated in the University of North Georgia Bracket Challenge. Stepping out of the normal stroke play, the Lady Flames competed in a match play format. In the eight-team challenge, Lee won it's quarterfinal and semifinal match, before falling to Findlay University in the championship match.
According to the UNG tournament home page, "Each team match consisted of five points with one point being awarded for each individual match, or in the case of an individual match being tied a half point was awarded. Each individual match was played to its completion and the first team to win three points within the team match advanced. If a team match is tied after all five individual matches, the total strokes of the five players from each team (no drop score) will be calculated with the winning team having the fewest strokes."
In the first matchup against #7 seed Columbus State University, the Lady Flames won 4-1. In match #1, Hannah Nall lost her battle 78-73. Match #2 had Lily Bloodworth winning 80-82. Match #3 had Olivia Ireland taking it 70-72. Supuschaya "Yui" Srichantamit won the fourth match 70-84, and Banthita "Pearl" Phoncharatkun handily won the fifth match 72-97.
The semifinal match pitted the Lady Flames against the six seed Catawba College. Lee won the semifinal matchup 3.5-1.5. The first battle had Phoncharatkun falling 77-75. Freshman Olivia Ireland won the second matchup 73-74. The third spot had Srichantamit winning 69-76. Hannah Nall took the fourth match 71-80. The lone tie came in the fifth match with Bloodworth tying 78-78.
The championship match was against #1 seed Findlay, who is also the third ranked team in the country, saw the Oilers bet the Lady Flames 5-0. Olivia Ireland fell in the first match 80-78. Srichantamit lost match #2 75-70. In the third battle, Nall lost 80-77. Bloodworth fell in the fourth matchup 78-76, and Phoncharatkun lost the fifth battle 83-71.
Hope Harrell competed as an individual in the tournament. Her first match against a golfer from Findlay, she won 74-75. Her second round against a golfer from the University of West Georgia, she lost 84-71. In her final round against a golfer from Columbus State, she lost 76-74.
The Lady Flames will head next to the Gulf South Conference Championship on Monday, April 22 in Valdosta, Ga.
Coach Geandra Almeida's Thoughts:
"I'm very pleased with the way we played the first and second rounds. One of the things we have been working on as a team is how to have a better start and I think we did that very well as we were the leading team after the first round. I felt like Olivia really stepped up for us and not only won her match against the number one player for Columbus State, but she also shot two under and tied Yui for the lowest round in round one."
"We kept the good momentum for the second round and once again Olivia beat the number one player for Catawba. We also had Yui and Hannah shooting three under and one under respectively helping us to reach the championship match."
"On the third round I felt like our mindset was not prepared for the tough day ahead. We let the rainy day get the best of us. Unfortunately, we never pressured Findlay, which made it easy for them to beat us in the finals. Overall, I felt like this was a great experience for us and another step in the right direction. We are excited for the days ahead of us as we prepare for the conference championship."
